Five W’s of KCWC: Where?

Happy New Year! It’s time to plan your writing strategy for 2009. We hope you will include KY Christian Writers Conference (June 19-20) in your strategic plan for 2009. The planning committee prays regularly that our publicity reaches those who will benefit from the networking, education, and “spiritual refreshment” that KCWC offers.

Last fall, we began a series of blog posts covering the classic Five W’s of journalism for KCWC (Who, What, When, Where, Why). So far, we’ve covered Who and What. This post will deal with Where. In 2009, we’re meeting for the second consecutive year at Northside Baptist Church.

When Kate Thomas, Joyce Joines, and others sought a location for their first central KY Christian writers seminar in 1996, they chose Elizabethtown. Kate said, “I prayed a lot about the location, and it seemed the reasonable place to start the conference since Elizabethtown is in the center of our state. Four-lane highways lead into this town from each direction.” Kate said that the planning committee has considered neighboring towns, but for one reason or another, the conveniences of Elizabethtown seem make it the most feasible location. There’s a good Biblical reason for meeting in a crossroads town like Etown. In the early days of Christianity, the apostles started new churches in crossroads towns like Ephesus and Corinth, hubs of commerce in the ancient world. Crossroads cities usually had a synagogue, a good place to start spreading the Good News about Messiah. Also, the centers of commerce and government usually had temples or monuments to pagan gods where the early evangelists could attract Gentiles as new believers.

Elizabethtown is an Interstate hub, as Kate mentioned, within easy driving distance of a number of major cities like Indianapolis, Nashville, Knoxville, Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus (OH), and Huntingdon (WV). Etown features plenty of hotels, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions for the convenience and entertainment of attendees. Visit Etown's visitor's site for details.

The venue for the first few years was Memorial United Methodist Church. In 2003, the conference moved to Rough River State Park. Since then, we’ve come back to Etown to meet at College Heights United Methodist and Grace Heartland, in addition to Northside Baptist. The churches in Etown offer a spirit of hospitality that just can’t be beat.

Mark your calendar and bookmark our website. Details on faculty and conference schedule will be posted within the next few weeks. We invite you to subscribe to this blog for updates and comment if you so desire. E-mail us if you have specific questions.