Writing into Welcome
A virtual formational writing circle for women reaching for God with words.
For many women, prayer and writing have always been intertwined—both are acts of surrender, both are ways of reaching for God. But there are seasons where that surrender, reaching, and revealing feel tired or timid — and we struggle to believe the truth would be welcomed, so writing often withers away.
When it stops feeling safe to tell the truth—about faith, longing, doubt, or desire—writing goes silent too. What we lose then is not language, but a place of meeting.
This four-week virtual workshop is an invitation to return to writing as a form of prayer—where attention, courage, and honesty become a way of being with God.
Writing into Welcome is a small, attentive circle for women who feel the weight of their words and a deep longing to feel the sturdy and soft welcome of God.
What This Is:
This is not a writing class or a critique group.
It is a formational writing circle, shaped by creative contemplative practice, trauma-informed facilitation, and brave communal presence.
Here, writing becomes:
a way of listening and hearing from God
a place to practice honesty without performance
a meeting place between your lived experience and God’s attentive, loving gaze
We write together.
We listen together.
We bear witness to one another’s words—not as editors or critics, but as women who are longing for God and learning to be braver on the page.
Why Writing?
Research across psychology, trauma studies, and spiritual formation suggests that writing can be a powerful way to recover voice and deepen meaning—especially for women who have learned to hold their words carefully. Putting lived experience into language helps organize what we carry, reduces the strain of unspoken emotion, and restores a sense of agency over our inner lives. In other words, writing doesn’t just record experience—it helps us reclaim authorship of it.
Spiritual growth, too, is often shaped as a story of becoming. Writing slows us down enough to notice what is forming beneath the surface, allowing faith, doubt, longing, and hope to be held together with honesty. When practiced gently and with choice, writing functions much like contemplative prayer: cultivating attention, courage, and receptivity to God’s presence.
Because not every nervous system benefits from pressure or forced disclosure, Writing Into Welcome is intentionally trauma-informed. Sharing is always optional. Silence is honored. Witness is offered with care rather than correction. This circle is designed to be a steady, spacious container where your words can emerge at their own pace—and be met with welcome.
What To Expect:
Each weekly gathering is 90 minutes and follows a gentle, steady rhythm:
a grounding welcome and prayerful opening
a creative practice + teaching to help set the table for a writing experience
extended time for guided writing in shared silence
space to read aloud (always optional)
reflective witnessing from the group—naming what stirred, what surprised, what felt alive
a closing blessing to send you back to your week
There is no pressure to share.
There is no expectation to “finish” anything.
Be prepared for your own words to surprise you.
The Four-Week Journey
The journey unfolds across four themes:
Welcoming Safety — tending the ground so honesty can return
Welcoming Attention — noticing what has been quietly forming beneath the silence
Welcoming Courage — staying with the words we’re tempted to soften or set aside
Welcoming Communion — offering what emerges and receiving presence as blessing
This is not a critique group.
Sharing is always optional.
Witness is offered with care, not correction.
What Are We Writing?
You’re invited to write whatever feels accessible to you in the moment. I’ll offer gentle writing invitations each week, but they are guideposts—not assignments. You may find yourself writing a poem, a journal entry, a letter, a prayer, a single sentence, or a full page. All of it belongs. Each week, I’ll offer writing invitations to help you begin, but you are always free to follow what feels most honest and possible that day.
Meet Your Guide
I’m Kaysie Strickland, a spiritual director, artist, poet, and the founder of Listening House. I also write on my Substack called Poetics of Welcome.
My work lives at the intersection of soul care, creative practice, and contemplative attention. I’ve spent years holding space for women navigating grief, transition, faith, and vocation—and again and again, writing emerges as a place where God meets us with tenderness and truth.
I don’t believe our words need fixing.
I believe they need welcome.
This Circle Is For You If…
you long to write honestly but feel hesitation
you want a writing practice that feels more like communion
you want witnesses, not critique
you sense your words carry holy weight—even if they feel unfinished
Register for
Writing into Welcome
A small step toward honesty. A wide welcome waiting.