Who is Family Fire?

Family Fire is an online community exploring what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit in our families, dating relationships, marriages, sexuality, parenting, grandparenting, and in-law relationships. Our team of therapists, pastors, and writers stoke the Spirit’s flame through encouragement on the web, social media, and email as well as live retreat events. Family Fire is a marriage and family ministry produced by ReFrame Ministries, the media missions arm of the Christian Reformed Church.

Faith outlook

Family Fire is a voice of the Christian Reformed Church, so all our articles should speak with a Reformed protestant perspective. All areas of life are blessings from God, so let the world see God’s provision in and sovereignty over our relationships! All articles receive a theological as well as a grammatical edit. We encourage our audience to make connections to their local resources, including a local faith congregations and professional Christian counselors.

What should a Family Fire article look like?

• Our writers are usually professionals in the relationship-related disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, or theology. 
• Every article should hit the intersection of living out Christian faith in our relationships, expressing the best advice as part of God's design for flourishing families. 
• Our articles are at least 750 words in length and we supply a sample template to help with formatting your content.
• Each article should have a have a single and clear thesis that meets a need or question our audience might have regarding their relationships. You should be able to state why someone would desire to read it and the main point you're trying to make. 
• Our readers come to us looking for help for relationship issues and they appreciate being able to find helpful guidance on the go. We include headings throughout each article that break out main points for readability, since our materials are frequently read on small screens and mobile devices.
• Every article should contain scripture, as God's word is the ultimate foundation for any advice we share. Use one translation throughout your article, preferably the English Standard Version (ESV) or the New International Version (NIV). (Please don’t use the King James Version (KJV) as it is no longer an easy translation for our readers to understand. You may use The Message for a down-to-earth understanding of a particular passage, but do not use it for general scripture references.)
  
• If you asserting claims or drawing from research, cite the source and include a link. 
• We love articles based on a good story that draws the reader into the article. Jesus loved a good story too and models for us how stories are helpful for conveying teaching.
  
• We write as fellow strugglers trying to sort out the messiness of life. We are in the mess of life together with our readers and sharing our best wisdom for the journey. Choose to be vulnerable and share from your own pain as a piece of God's redemption story. God's economy wastes nothing and every broken bit can be recycled for God's glory!
• Our website is not a place for denominational politics or arguing about divisive issues. Focus instead on the relational questions that Christians are trying to sort out.
• Assume a global audience. Our words reach far beyond the walls of our churches or the boundaries of a nation. Our community is diverse ethnically and theologically, so don't assume a faith background or understanding of a particular theological perspective or terms. Churchy words will need unpacking. 

Whom do I contact for more?

Send a resume and some writing samples to [email protected] to learn more. Our Family Fire senior producer, Rev. Deb Koster, is happy to talk with you about any additional concerns you might have. 

Thanks for your willingness to look deeper into this ministry opportunity and prayerfully consider how we can collaborate together!

Grammar

Use direct and active language as often as possible.

Generally, we follow the Chicago Manual of Style as a writing guide.

• Please use the Oxford comma when you are sharing a list including this, that, and the other. Clarity is your friend!
• Use a single space after sentences. Sentences get lonely when separated from each other!
• Do not capitalize pronouns for God.

Structure

Articles should be around 750-1,000 words in length, but you may go longer if you are inspired!

It's a good idea to begin with why your thesis is important--state the need you hope to meet. Then share your thesis as an answer. Use a sentence that includes your theme at the beginning and end of your articles when possible.

Then explore aspects and sub-themes of your thesis for the bulk of the article. Points of teaching and advice are always welcome. 

Focus your article giving specific points to each paragraph and break them out into scan-able headings. Offer your readers concrete ideas to take away from your article for relational guidance.

Make sure the keywords of your article appear throughout your article.

Who will see the articles I write?

We add two new articles to our website every week from pastors and therapists to care for the relationships of our audience. We email these articles each week to our audience of over 100,000 people. We also promote the new articles each week over our Family Fire Facebook page.

Who owns the content and how can I share it?

Family Fire will own the content of any article that we buy from a writer. Authors are welcome to include a byline that connects back to their personal ministry. If authors share an article that was written for Family Fire on their personal or ministry website it is expected that it will be attributed back to Family Fire with a link back to the article on our Family Fire website.

What is the reimbursement?

Reimbursement rates vary based on your ministry and counseling credentials. Connect with us at [email protected] for more information on compensation for articles.

How will I know what to write about?

We give our writing team ongoing emails that contain upcoming topics we are talking about on Facebook and some of the concerns that people bring to us. If this inspires your writing that is great, but you should not feel limited by those topics.

Write about the passions that God has placed on your heart that hit the intersection of living out our faith and within the messiness of relationships.

Write from what you see and experience: if people around you are hurting over something, you can bet people in our audience are feeling the same pain.

How often are writers obligated to submit articles?

Our writers are not obligated to any specific number of articles. You can write as often as you like and take breaks from writing whenever needed. We will not publish more than two articles from one author in a month. More than two can be accepted, but we will hold them for use at a later date. If you choose an article topic from our email list, we ask for article copy on that topic within the month or return the topic for another author to use.