Schedule 

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

12:00- 1:00 Check-in for attendees, light snacks available

1:00-1:30- Opening prayer with Nick Portzen, welcome with Mary Portzen

1:30-2:20- James C. Magruder- "Answering the Call to Write for the Kingdom" Has God called you to write for Him? How to know, and how to respond.

2:20-3:10- Robin Grunder - "Legacy Writing- Why Your Story Matters" Some of the most important words you’ll ever write may never hit a bestseller list—but they can change eternity. Robin invites you to rethink writing success and rediscover the deeper purpose of your words. Drawing from Scripture, real-life examples, and years of helping writers preserve stories of faith and family history, this session explores what legacy writing is, why it matters, and how to begin. Whether you’re a first-time writer or a multi-published author, this session will inspire you to steward your story in a way that points future generations to Christ and leaves a spiritual legacy that outlives you.

3:10-3:30-Break Check out speaker's tables and TJ's Bookstore display for their books

3:30-5:45- Darci Werner "Junk Journal: Creating with the Creator" Prayer Journal workshop.  A creative release to hear God’s voice in the areas of His will for your story.  A process in emptying yourself to hear God speak through the age-old practice of journaling.  Do you question if God is listening? Or is it YOU who is not hearing?  The calming techniques through simple doodles with prayer allow creativity to calm the mind and spirit.  Take your prayer to the next level to enhance your craft, your writing, and spiritual relationship.  Several forms of prayer journals will be discussed, such as T prayers, prayer prompt journals, and mind maps.

This is a hands-on session with each attendee creating one of the options presented. Materials provided, but if you have favorite prayers, bible verses, photos or paper memorabilia you want to include in your journal, bring them with you. 

6:00-evening meal

The Fellowship Hall doors will be locked up by 7:30 pm. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

7:30-8:30- Check-in for attendees at Fellowship Hall, with continental breakfast.

8:30-9:10- Mary Portzen "Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul"

9:10-10:00- James C. Magruder "Know Thyself: What Kind of Writer Are You?" Thematic? Reflective? Plotter? Pantser? Fiction? Non-fiction? Both? How does knowing what type of writer you are help you understand yourself, writer better, faster, and build your brand?

10:00-10:50 Robin Grunder "Finding the Theme in Your Life Story or Memoir" Your life isn’t random—but the pattern isn’t always obvious. In this hands-on session, Robin guides attendees through a simple, visual story-mapping process to identify key turning points, spiritual milestones, and recurring themes in their lives. Participants will learn how to map life events, recognize patterns of God’s faithfulness, and uncover a clear theme that brings focus and meaning to their writing.

10:50-11:10 Break Visit our bookseller, T. J.'s Christian Books, or author tables.

11:10-11:55- Mary Portzen “Writing Shorts” Before she signed seven book contracts in eight years, Mary had nearly 700 short pieces published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies. Not only did those shorter pieces help her get the book contracts, but many of them also reached a much wider audience than the books. Mary shares examples of published pieces that pointed the reader to God and includes markets for shorter pieces. 

Noon-1:00 Lunch

12:40-1:00 (paid 20-minute consultation time with speakers, cost $30, must send up to ten pages, double spaced by May 12 to Mary Portzen, cfcwconference@gmail.com)

1:00-1:15 Golf cart available to/from the Retreat Center.

1:15-2:05- Robin Grunder "From Journals to Books: Mining Your Life for Stories" (FELLOWSHIP HALL) Many writers have shelves of journals filled with prayers, questions, milestones, and hard-won wisdom, yet no clear path for turning those raw pages into something lasting. In this practical and encouraging session, Robin helps attendees learn how to mine their journals for meaningful stories and shape them into material for a legacy book or memoir.

                  Kathleen Bird "God in Your Fiction" (RETREAT CENTER) Storytelling is one of the most effective ways of sharing God with others, but it can be difficult to bring God into our fiction naturally, without being preachy. This session will cover ways God can be incorporated into our fiction seamlessly, as naturally as a conversation with a friend. 

2:05-2:15 Golfcart available to/from the Retreat Center.

2:15-3:05- James Magruder "Essentials of Writing Great Dialogue" (FELLOWSHIP HALL) What makes dialogue sing? What makes it authentic? How to write it, test it, and edit it. How to handle attribution to speed up or slow down your dialogue.

                   Mary Jedlicka Humston "Fun with Poetry" (RETREAT CENTER) Utilize your creative juices trying new styles of poetry, including Duplex, Erasure/Blackout, Bop, and magnetic words, plus other unique forms. Discussion on traditional poetry and submission and marketing possiblilities. Feel free to bring several copies of a "work-in-progress" to be shared, poems of 20 lines or less, for helpful critique and suggestions from the group. Time will be allowed for sharing.    

3:05-3:15- Golf cart available to/from the Retreat Center.

3:15-4:05- J.A. Webb "The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Marketing...and How to Stop Making Them" Does the idea of author marketing and promotion intimidate or discourage you? Does it feel like your marketing efforts are hitting an invisible wall? J.A. Webb made the mistakes so you don't have to. Join him as he diagnoses the mistakes that cause marketing campaigns to fail, and how to fix them.

4:05-4:15- Mary Portzen announcements

4:15-5:00- free 15-minute consultations (up to 3 per speaker)

Please visit our bookstore (thanks to T. J.'s Christian Books)  

Doors to the Fellowship Hall will be locked at 5:30 pm.

5:30- picnic supper (picnic area next to the Retreat Center, across from the office)

SATURDAY, JUNE 6

8:00-9:00 - Gather inside the Fellowship Hall, continental breakfast.

9:00-9:15- Mary Portzen, opening devotion, announcements

9:15-10:05-.James C. Magruder "AI and the Writer: Tool or Taboo?" The role and ethics in the writer's life. How does ChatGPT work? What are the strengths and weaknesses and risks with the AI revolution? Many markets have taken a strong position on not accepting any stories or articles that have utilized AI (and they can tell). Writers need to be well-versed on this topic in creating trademarked work.

10:05-10:55- James C. Magruder "The Book Proposal Blueprint: What to Include in a Book Proposal for Fiction and Non-fiction" 

10:55-11:15 Break, Golf Cart available to/from the Retreat Center

11:15-12:05 J.A. Webb "Stop Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall" (FELLOWSHIP HALL) For Advanced Writers, a deeper dive in the seven deadly mistakes. When you select a book cover concept, write back cover copy, or create ads, how can you be sure you are making the right choices? Learn how to choose marketing elements that will be effective with your audience.  

                      Kathleen Bird "Building on a Theme for Devotionals" (RETREAT CENTER) When writing a devotional, it can be tempting to fall back on tried-and-true favorites. Knowing the Bible is one big story can help us look at less familiar passages through a different lens. Using Biblical theology, understanding different Biblical genres and looking at the historical context can help us unpack difficult verses in a new way for our readers. In this session, we'll take a look at identifying themes that run through the entire Bible and look at different tools to dive deeper so we can feel confident in the truths we write about. 

12:05-12:15 Golf cart rides to/from the retreat center.

12:15-1:15-Lunch

1:00-1:15-free private consultations (one 15-minute per speaker)

1:15-2:05- James C. Magruder "Finding Inspiration and Rebounding from Rejection" As writers, where do we find inspiration? Why we shouldn't "wait" for it. If God called us to write, how do we interpret rejection, rebound from it, and keep going?

2:05-2:30- Mary Portzen closing

2:30-3:00 Time for final questions and making any last purchases from the authors.