Women Who Pen Sunday School Literature - The Christian Online Magazine

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Karen Schillinger of South Carolina was raised in a two parent household in Illinois with two sisters and one brother. The Christian literature and radio programs to which she was exposed had a lasting effect on her. Formerly a social worker, Schillinger now works as a temp, freeing herself for frequent trips to visit her ailing parents. She has been writing for Union Gospel Press since 1992. She is single.

Mary Lynn Bushong, also of South Carolina, was raised in a two-parent, five-sibling, Christian family in Ontario, Canada. If you shook her family tree, Jane Austen would fall out as a distant cousin. Before becoming a full-time homemaker, Bushong was a photo lab technician. She began writing for Union Gospel Press nearly five years ago. She is married with two sons.

Annalou Wren of Florida was a wandering navy brat. Her family's moves led the three girls and their brother to form close ties. Wren wrote her first story for Union Gospel Press in 1992. She's the mother of an adult daughter and a doting grandmother as well.The common thread running through the lives of these women is their tie to Union Gospel Press, an Ohio-based publisher of Sunday school and religious literature since 1902.

For Union Gospel Press, all writing is by assignment only. Not knowing this,Karen Schillinger submitted a story. Although they returned it,they were interested in obtaining her autobiography. To her surprise,this led to her first assignment.

Schillinger writes for preschooler and the early grades. She finds ideas in newspapers and magazines, and from her time spent teaching Sunday school. Expressing herself on paper comes more easily than expressing herself orally. When it comes to writing, "what holds me back," she says,"is not having children. But I have the desire to communicate my feelings for the Lord." Asked how she knows when a story is finished, she laughs. "I'm such a perfectionist that I keep revising right down to the deadline-- and then I HAVE to send it off!"Schillinger hopes that her stories will have the power to change lives for the better, and that they will be the legacies she leaves behind.

Karen Schillinger met Mary Lynn Bushong through the local Writers Guild.At Schillinger's urging, Bushong contacted Union Gospel Press. She was daunted, to say the least, when her first assignment was to create a quarterly featuring fifteen stories with thirteen, tie-in craft ideas for children age six to eight! She has also complete word puzzle assignments and nonfiction articles for adults. She tries her stories and puzzles out on the critical eyes of her husband, Larry, and her oldest son. When they approve, she knows she's done.

Sermons, newspaper articles, radio programs, and books inspire Bushong with new ideas, which she has trained herself to write down. "Once you get that core idea down," she says, "it becomes much easier" to write the story later. "I find it easy to find a spiritual lesson in incidents." From tending her garden to raising her sons, there's plenty to inspire her.

In addition to writing for Union Gospel Press, Bushong has had articles published in "Countryside Magazine," has three novels making the publishing rounds, and has one unfinished novels in the works.

An ad seeking writers of Sunday school material in "Moody Monthly" was the catalyst that brought Annalou Wren and Union Gospel Press together. Wren connected with the scripturally-based, "Gospel truth put to life" writing that was expected. Although she's written for ages six to eight, fourth to sixth grade, teens, and young adults,Wren's heart is with the teenagers.

"Children are very worldly-wise anymore, even those in Christian schools," Annalou Wren says. "I have a real burden for teenagers." She actually prefers to deal with tough issues -- temptations, peer pressure,suicide -- and strives to help teens know Christ as a real person. God gets the credit for her ideas, and for helping her on even the toughest assignment, which was when Union Gospel Press requested stories for first graders based on specific Bible verses. It was the verses she had the most trouble with: how do you explain Achan's sin or Mary's Magnificat to a six year old? "That was a challenge," Wren admits.

Besides her work for Union Gospel Press, Annalou Wren has been published in "Focus on the Family," "Virtuous Woman," "Joyful Woman," and a weekly newspaper, "The Times Examiner."Writing on assignment has been a rewarding experience. "I've learned how to say things succinctly, to cut [my writing] to the bone, to clarify the main theme, and to make the daily life application of spiritual truth." For these Wren is thankful.

Although they may not have time for reading, these women make time.Karen Schillinger likes Catherine Marshall of Christy fame, and for children, Lois Leppard of the Mandie series. For Mary Lynn Bushong it's the works of C. S. Lewis, and also mysteries by Agatha Christie and Ellis Peters. Annalou Wren's list includes the collaborations of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, and novels by Max Lucado and Kaye Arthur.

For their ambition of serving the Lord through the written word to bear fruit, these women put in years of effort. Let their accomplishments be an encouragement to you as you strive to meet your own goals. It takes a willing spirit and the courage to see it through. As Annalou Wren will tell you, "It's never too late."

Copyright 2000 by Brenda B. Covert
Published by The Christian Online Magazine