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If you aren’t aware, there’s a rather new Christian Writing Community called Story Stewards. I joined when they had their Jesus Writing Month, and while I didn’t participate in that much, I didn’t see any harm in joining their main community that was coming out.
As I’ve gotten to know it better, there are a few things that bother me personally. Nothing too big, but they do rub me the wrong way, and I would like your opinions because I’m not sure if I’m overthinking and overreacting or not.
Abbreviations:
- JWM—Jesus Writing Month
- SSC—Story Steward Community (adding the C because without it all I can think of is WW2)
- CG—Their Community Guidelines
- CWW and CEW—I think everyone knows these, but Crazy Writing Week and Crazy Editing Week
Bur #1: When I went to sign up for JWM, they proudly stated “join 1,000+ other Christian writers!” however JWM never got above 550 members. I know that CWW and CEW also says this, but they have the numbers to back it up every year, in fact they had over 2k members last CWW. This was, to my knowledge, JWM’s first year, so it’s not like the year before they have over 1k members.
-Why this bothers me is they couldn’t guarantee this number. While I don’t care much how many members something has, it bothers me that they still said this when they could have easily left a number out and simply said “Join other passionate Christian Writers” or keep updating it with a rounded up member number if that’s possible. Instead, it turned out to be a lie. It bothers me a little.
(Note: on the SSC website, it now says more than 500, not 1k.)
Bur #2. Their Community Guidelines (link)
Yes, CG’s are necessary and I agree with a lot of it such as keeping the space family-friendly et cetera. The entire thing isn’t very well written, it feels like someone just sat down one afternoon, thought of everything they could and quickly jotted it down and didn’t specify afterwards.
For instance, they say “No heated debates” yet never define or explain what counts as a heated debate. They also say “No striving or comparison” and I can only assume they mean striving or comparing yourself to others, because Christians are directly told to strive to be closer to God, and not all comparison is bad. For instance, since there’s no further explanation, if I compared J.R.R. Tolkien to C.S. Lewis that would technically be against community guidelines.
They also constantly say things like “Aligned with the overall Story Stewards culture and tone”. I have no idea what they mean by this. I guess I could assume they mean Christian, yet why don’t they just say “Aligned with Christian ideas and themes” if that’s the case? The first one is just confusing, and I can only guess at best what they mean.
Under Photos for what you can’t post, they also say this “Not confusing or misleading to new members” yet I have no idea what this means either! If I posted one of my character drawings, saying “I drew Gabriel again! The poor thing” any new member would be confused because they don’t know who he is.
There are a few other examples, but these are the ones that bother me the most.
Bur #3: Their “Faith Alignment”
Also under their CG, near the bottom, they say this:
Faith Alignment
Story Stewards is rooted in historic Christian belief.Promotion of other religions or spiritual practices is not permitted.
Respectful Christian theological discussion and debate are allowed.
This is literally it. This one is a personal thing I often notice myself and I’m not sure if it would matter to others, but if this is their version of Statement of Faith, it’s one of the weakest I’ve seen. When I was looking at publishers, their Statements of Faith mattered to me a lot, because I wanted to avoid the ones that basically just had Christian buzz words, or none at all because I wanted to know who I was aligning with (on that note, @Ellette-giselle if you can, please add one to Wild Horse, I already knew who you were, but if I had personally come across the website not knowing you, no statement of faith would have probably made me cross it off).
Obviously, SSC isn’t like aligning yourself with a publisher, but I have a lot more respect for the ones who do have a clear statement of faith. I understand not wanting to step on denominational toes, but KP’s Statement of Faith doesn’t, while simultaneously being solid, proving it’s possible to have both (you can find KP’s under “Submissions” then scrolling down to “Statement of Faith” and clicking on it.)
I do not personally like the fact that SSC’s is so incredibly vague. That is not a witness to anyone who might read that, but also there are people who believe that the Muslim belief alines with Christianity, even saying that Allah and God are the same. I know they use the word “historic” but what do they mean “historic”? Have the core Christian values changed since Christ ascended? If they used the word “traditional” it would still be weak in my opinion, but at least better.
In a world where others are extremely foggy about what a Christian actually is, and even Christians themselves doubting the definition, Statements of Faith are extremely important.
I have a few other things, but they’re little things like the founder’s, Justice Tilsher’s, attitude many times I’m not a huge fan of, and they also allow AI on the site (often the comments are still praising AI posts), but those are things that I think are probably only a me-thing (The AI others might have a problem with, but I know they won’t do anything about it, and other sites also don’t usually have a policy on AI unless their an art site specifically.)
Those are the things that bother me about SSC. Again, I might just be overthinking (hence why I haven’t emailed anyone from SSC with any of these things). The CG and Faith statement thing could just be that the community is new, but it genuinely does give off “I took 30 minutes to write something out.” I am also aware that KP has a short CG, but when you read that, even though it’s brief, they’re pretty clear what they mean. For SSC, the CG is basically three words each point for most of it.
So any thoughts and opinions? Am I focusing to much on small to nothings? Are these things that also rub you the wrong way a bit? I’m genuinely confused in my own head right now.
@ducktator @whalekeeper @freed_and_redeemed @anyone else
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)I’m not part of SSC so I can’t comment on this very much. I’ve looked at the website and there isn’t a whole lot of information – I can’t access their statement of faith or the community guidelines. It seems like you have to be in it to really know about it.
I will say that I don’t support people who heavily use AI, and I do prefer communities that clearly state beliefs, expectations, and rules.
As for this community specifically, I’ve noticed they call parts of the community the “Sanctuary” and the “Outer Court” and that the writers follow a God-given “rhythm.”
Q. What happens if I am not selected for the Sanctuary right away?
A. If you are not selected in a given month, you remain in the Outer Court.
– and –
Creativity becomes an act of worship, not a weight you carry.
That is the rhythm of the Sanctuary.
Obviously this is a nod to temple traditions. I don’t mean to offend anyone who is on the community and likes it, but I think this is pretentious and despecifies real, impactful Christian concepts. It’s comparable to, say, if someone made a really pretty box and named it the ark of the covenant. It doesn’t make sense for an online writing community to use these names.
That’s why I haven’t joined the community; there are a bunch of other similar ideas on their home page and it just doesn’t click with me. Now of course, maybe I have the wrong impression! I wouldn’t mind hearing from their community members. And what bothers me doesn’t bother everyone.
I am out of signature ideas
I’ve never heard of them, but what kind of statement of faith is that? If you don’t want to write a whole thing, just state you’re aligned with the creeds and that should cover it.
The lie thing doesn’t bother me so much since they’ve corrected it. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that they really expected 1000+ people.
I just read their content guide and it does seem very vague.
No culture wars
Most of the time when I see the phrase “culture war” it is an attack on Christians who argue that the woke stuff is ethically wrong, which I hope they don’t mean here, but it does rub me the wrong way.
Spells or dark maggic (fantasy magic used for world-building is fine, but avoid witchcraft, curses, or occult elements).
…I don’t think this is specific enough. Where is the line drawn between fantasy magic with wizards, and witchcraft? What about evil magic that is specifically called evil?
And the “heated debates”. I assume they mean no arguing that degenerates into namecalling and stuff, but they should say that. We on KP once had a heated debate about what color the number 7 is. It was civil, but everyone had strong opinions. (It’s still gold and sparkly).
I don’t know what to say about the AI other than I hate AI.
?For our Blessed Lady's sake, bring us in good ale!?
I’ve noticed they call parts of the community the “Sanctuary” and the “Outer Court”
That’s weird. It almost sounds like they want your writing to be an idol.
?For our Blessed Lady's sake, bring us in good ale!?
That’s weird. It almost sounds like they want your writing to be an idol.
? I’d chalk it up to them wanting to create a God-fearing atmosphere on an online forum. Imo it overshoots the mark, but that’s just my opinion. They have good intentions.
We on KP once had a heated debate about what color the number 7 is. It was civil, but everyone had strong opinions. (It’s still gold and sparkly).
IT’S GREEN. Saying it’s gold is like saying pigs fly. Accept the truth before I put you in an asylum.
I am out of signature ideas
Oof, I wasn’t aware of that. I joined JWM because people were saying it was like CWW and maybe better (in my opinion not better, even putting those concerns behind, it wasn’t as organized as CWW, but organization kinda comes with age) and then decided to just join SSC to have another writing community because why not?
I’m also concerned that you can’t see the CG, that should be available before you sign up.
The “Sanctuary” thing creeps me out, and is also weird because while I haven’t been very active on the site, there’s nothing on there that says that or Outer Court. I did log out and checked the home page and yeah…weird. I also have no idea what this is supposed to mean:
Most communities are groups of writers who happen to be Christian.
We are Christians who happen to write.???
This is a screenshot of part of the community, nothing about a Sanctuary.
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)
It’s all been pretty normal, plus some stuff that KP doesn’t have like live sprints with Admins. Another reason why I was like “why not?”.
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)I’m sorry, I thought you had joined JWM, I must me mixing you up with someone, idk.
…I don’t think this is specific enough. Where is the line drawn between fantasy magic with wizards, and witchcraft? What about evil magic that is specifically called evil?
Not to mention that there is witchcraft in books like Narnia and in Tolkien’s writing, it is simply portrayed as evil like it should be. I don’t believe that Christian communities should out-right ban topics like witchcraft, suicide, or self-harm. I would say that they can be talked about and portrayed but only in a God-honoring way and with TW in the title if they wish.
The reason those things should be talked about to some extent is because Christians too often tiptoe around the tough subjects, shushing it and not wanting to talk about it when there are those who are confused but afraid to speak. I portray some suicidal characters because I myself have gotten close to that point, multiple times, and those characters were ways to explore not only my own mess of emotions and thoughts, but also a way I wish to reach out to others. Portraying those themes themselves in writing I don’t believe is bad, it’s how the author writes them that makes their portrayal bad or good.
Tangent over though, I can understand the argument for not wanting it on the site.
And agreed, that is also vague.
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)I made a post asking what the Sanctuary and Outer Court is exactly. I’ll let you know when I get a response.
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)We on KP once had a heated debate about what color the number 7 is. It was civil, but everyone had strong opinions. (It’s still gold and sparkly).
It’s greeeeeeeen
⭐️World's Slowest Writer⭐️
The “Sanctuary” thing creeps me out, and is also weird because while I haven’t been very active on the site, there’s nothing on there that says that or Outer Court. I did log out and checked the home page and yeah…weird. I also have no idea what this is supposed to mean:
They’re probably still figuring things out because they’re so new – wouldn’t surprise me! Maybe that system didn’t work out and they still haven’t updated the home page.
I am out of signature ideas
Since there are younger people, I would understand requiring a content warning, or restricting those things for snippets shared, but it should be allowed when sharing a complete work for feedback. Then it can have labels, and the more sensitive people can just avoid the whole topic.
?For our Blessed Lady's sake, bring us in good ale!?
Confuzzled, RAE
(PS. Pfp by SelkieSeal on Unvale. My dear Chase ❤️?)I thought the “about us” had a pretty clear statement of faith. Did you read that? If so, and you still think I should add a clearly defined one then I will totally do that! Thanks for the tip!!
personally, I haven’t liked much of what I’ve seen of Story Stewards and have started clear. Some of the reasons were ones you brought up, plus some others. That’s my two cents. XD
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn't hear the music
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