Writing Guidelines for Practicing Families Blog

Practicing Families is an on-line ministry that seeks to support families in their efforts to follow the way of Jesus. A key component of this ministry is our blog at PracticingFamilies.com. We would love for you to be part of the conversation!

 Unsolicited submissions are welcome for the following two weekly columns:

Wednesday Column: Practicing with Children

These posts describe experiences of engaging in spiritual practices with children. These are not “this is how you should do it” posts. These are “this is what I did . . . and it was beautiful . . . it was a disaster . . . it was a beautiful disaster” posts. We are interested in how real people with real kids are working to be faithful in real life. It is also important to note that we define “spiritual practice” very broadly. You may engage in a traditional practice–like worship or contemplative prayer; but your practice might also involve family meals, bedtime routines, walks to school . . . Anything you do with your children in the awareness of God’s presence can be considered a spiritual practice–at least as far as this column is concerned.

Friday Column: Practicing Parents

These posts focus on the spirituality of parenting. Here are some questions you might consider: How do you, as a parent, make time for your personal spiritual nourishment? What are you learning from your kids about how to live a faithful life? How has God sustained you through family struggles? What parenting wisdom and support have you found in scripture and/or your faith community? [Please note that there are very few open Fridays for 2013.]

In addition, we have a Monday column that provides weekly family liturgies. Details are below. If you would like to submit material for this column, please contact Practicing Families to inquire about open dates on the schedule.

Monday Column: Family Liturgies

Liturgy posts provide material suitable for family worship during the week. This material should include, but is not limited to: a prayer, a scripture reading (generally a selection from the week’s lectionary readings), a memory verse (taken from the longer reading), and a family-oriented spiritual practice. (This practice does not have to be a “traditional” practice–it could be Bible study questions, an art project, a service activity, a prayer walk . . . creative options are encouraged.) The idea is not to give an order of worship, but to provide material that can be used and adapted by families throughout the week.

Submissions to Practicing Families should:

• Be between 500 and 1000 words

• Have few–if any–spelling and grammatical errors

• Use family-friendly language

• Focus on personal experiences and stories

• Be written in a spirit of love–and a little humor doesn’t hurt either

• Include at least one quality picture to accompany the article (if possible)

• Include a 1-2 sentence author byline, along with an address for a web site or blog (if desired)

• Be sent as a Google document or Word compatible file to practicingfamilies@gmail.com

*Previously published articles that fit the submission criteria are welcome. By submitting your article, you grant Practicing Families permission to post the article on it’s blog and use quotes from the article on other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. You retain all rights to your submitted piece.

Interested in Contributing on a Regular Basis?

Regular contributors commit to writing one post every 4-6 weeks for the Practicing Families blog. They can contribute to one column on an ongoing basis, or provide material for different columns throughout the year. Writers are asked to make this commitment for at least one year. All regular contributors will have a picture, bio, and blog/web page link on the “Contributors” page of the blog.

Please contact the editors at practicingfamilies@gmail.com if you would like to be a regular contributor to the ministry.