Lalita Ham was born and raised in Portland, leaving her with an unnatural love of grey skies and black coffee.

Dan Mancini lives with his wife, son, and dog in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds an M.A. in English literature with a creative writing emphasis. He’s spent years mostly pretending to work on a novel, hammering out the occasional short story, and affecting bohemian poses. You can read his non-fiction scribblings at his blog, as well as at DVD Verdict, where he has been on the writing staff since 2002 and the editorial staff since 2005. As a Christ follower, Dan is strictly amateur. His wife, a staff member at Buckhead Church, is the professional of the family.

Adam P. Newton is a writer who aspires to actually make a career out of his words. He enjoys music, literature, cinema, theology, politics, whiskey, wine, & his friends. He’s a born & raised Texan who doesn’t think or sound like he’s from Texas. In order to pay the bills, he works as a technical writer for an eyelash extension company (It’s a long, but fun, story…) and a barista for an independent coffeeshop (Yeah Fair Trade!). In addition to contributing to the BWC, Adam writes for Amplifier Magazine, HM, and ENVY. He can be found at dryvetymeonlyne.com.

Jeff Schragel is currently engaged in an endless quest for the elusive PhD in Literature and Criticism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In his spare time he is the co-creator/editor of Christianityismore.com, is working on his dissertation on British Romantic poetry, and preparing to marry his wonderful fiance, Jessica.

Becky Garrison serves as senior contributing editor for The Wittenburg Door, the country’s oldest, largest and pretty much only religious satire magazine.

Recent college graduate and husband. Enjoys rock and roll, film, and comedic noises. Favorite artists include Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson, and Bob Dylan.

Ben Rogers did college at Southern Nazarene University. Ben Rogers did urban ministry in Chicago. Ben Rogers does comedy. Ben Rogers does writing. Ben Rogers does sailing.

Bernie Wilke is a 1995 graduate of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. A former Buddhist, he became a Christian in 1997 and served 6 years in college ministry with Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. It was at IUP where he received his Masters in Fine Art. He now lives in Philadelphia where he works as a community artist.

Gerald Iversen is national coordinator of Alternatives for Simple Living, a 32-year-old nonprofit educational organization.

Samuel C. Albertson lives in Portland with his wife Sarah. He is currently a student at Multnomah Bible College studying Bible/Theology and Education. He grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado and enjoys engaging culture, as he finds the reflection of God’s image interweaved within a fallen humanity and its handiwork. However, he enjoys engaging people even more than culture’s products and has established a ministry known as PROKOPE. Contact him at scalbertson@gmail.com

Susan Isaacs was born in Hollywood, California, in what is now the Blue Scientology building. Not the chi-chi Celebrity Center, but a prison-like facility, where underlings are let out at noon to do tai chi on the lawn. But it was a hospital before, which is how she came to be there. Susan is an actor and writer with a slew of credits in TV, film and radio. She has an MFA in screenwriting from USC and is an alumnus of the Groundlings Comedy Troupe in LA. When she’s not appearing in film or on TV, she’s out reading her essays or performing her solo show. Susan’s comedy memoir, “Angry Conversations With God” explores the idea that if her relationship with God was like a marriage, she and God needed to go to couples counseling. The book will soon be available in hardback and as an audio book. You can read her blog or visit her website. And Now: a moment of silence in memory of the apostrophe.

Matt McKechnie is a Canadian teleservice customer account manager who services the needs of greedy North Americans on a daily basis. He is also a freelance writer who has published news and reviews for a number of online collectives and blogs (andthehitsjustkeeponcomin.blogspot.com) and is pursuing a career in journalism as writing has always been a major passion for him. He has also been published as a freelance news writer for the CTV News corporation (CTV.ca). He graduated from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in 2001 and has been married to his invaluable wife Sarah for over two years. He currently resides in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada and is also an independent Canadian musician who actively tours and records albums under the musical moniker Graven (myspace.com/gravencanada).

Mike Morrell is a freelance writer and editor living with his wife, Jasmin in Raleigh , North Carolina. He is part of a newly-forming intentional house church community and is an avid reader of comic books, science fiction, and fantasy. Mike spends altogether too much time maintaining zoecarnate.com , an alt.Christian cornucopia documenting roads to Jesus less traveled.

Matthew Porter writes, directs, and produces through his company, 95 Theses Entertainment, and currently serves as Head Comedy Writer for Steve Brown, Etc. He wrote and co-directed Blackwater Elegy, starring Tony-winner John Cullum (ER, Northern Exposure) and Emmy-nominee Barry Corbin (One Tree Hill, Northern Exposure). His most recent film, a documentary called HOPE+ : Surviving The Sentence of HIV / AIDS, was shot on location in Russia, South Africa, Jamaica, and Chicago.

Although her heart resides somewhere in West Africa, Monique Perry lives in New Jersey just 20 minutes from Midtown NYC. She is currently persuing a Masters degree in Missiology.

Melissa Weckler is a special education teacher working with individuals with autism. She enjoys reading and writing, a wide variety of mind-corrupting television dramas, and gardening. She lives in Sylvan Lake, MI with a pooch of Shepherd-Rottweiler descent (Clementine) and an insufferably selfish feline (Kit-tay).

Ramon Chaparro is an AfroNuyoRican wanderer who hopes to live in China and the Middle East someday. He aspires to someday play jazz saxophone, speak 10 languages, and help bridge the yawning chasm of hostility and misunderstanding that often exists between Muslims and Christians.

Jeff Goins is a slightly postmodern musician in Nashville, TN with no aspirations of “making it” in the business. He is currently involved in a movement that seeks to re-imagine culture.

Scott Appleman is from where the buffalo roam, but moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2005 to help his friends start a church. He and his lovely wife, Janice, a nurse for tiny, tiny babies, are settling in nicely. She likes the sun (there is so much sun here!) and he likes teaching and tutoring writing at the local community college. Scott is, at this very moment (yes, right now) working on Dove&Snake, what he calls an adventure, and the cool kids call a
zine.

Zach Binsfeld is a 21 year old University of Minnesota student, grown in a small suburban town outside Minneapolis. A semi-conventional undergraduate, he spent the last two school years on an all-expense-paid trip to the desert which was well funded by the Minnesota Army National Guard. He often pretends to know what he is talking about; but he’s a man of paradoxes and illusions (though his friends don’t find him all that tricky) and he gets overly excited when he hears words like honesty and hope.

Patty Kirk is Writer in Residence and adjunct associate professor of English, specializing in writing, at John Brown University. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arkansas and an MA in English from Tulane University and has taught English at universities in Germany and China as well as Northeastern University (Tahlequah), M.I.T., and Tulane’s University College. She reads her work widely, has led numerous writers conferences and workshops and judged writing contests, and has approximately 50 articles, seminar presentations, and collaborations to her name.

Brian grew up in Dayton, OH, and attended Dayton Christian High School, Cedarville Univeristy and then traveled on to Phoenix, Arizona for seminary. Married to Jenna, his high school sweetheart, they now have three boys, Noah, Sam and Ethan. He was the church section editor for Relevant magazine. He writes frequently for the Dayton Daily News on religion and culture. You can read more of his writing here.

Basem is a pseudonym for an American man living and working in the West Bank in the Palestinian Territories (Occupied). To contact him, you can visit his blog.

Tyler Charles is proud to be a born and bred Buckeye. He now resides in Chicago’s convoluted suburban sprawl and works for Christianity Today International. He is also a freelance writer/editor and speaks regularly to youth groups. In his spare time, he enjoys naps, cookies, and winning. He loves Ohio State football.

Paul Luikart lives in Chicago. He spends his time writing, performing comedy in all its delicious forms and working at a ministry that assists homeless men and women. He has a BA in English-creative writing and has published poetry and stories in a few places and
writes a blog about social justice. Also, he’s married to a wonderful woman named Emily.

Sara Johansson studies linguistics, has an all-Swedish fantasy hockey team, smokes like a fish, drinks like a chimney, and finds herself hilarious. She fosters all of her geeky qualities, spells everything the Canadian way, and finds making needlessly elaborate foodstuffs from scratch simply delightful. Her greatest dream is to be able to introduce herself as a PhD/Master Baker; mostly because it cracks her up. Before she dies she’d like to be on a first name basis with her city bus driver, receive an oversized cheque, and order oatmeal on a date.

Mike Plunkett is a former news designer, former graduate student at USC and hopefully, soon to be former resident of Southern California. But he is a current twentysomething and also trying to find other things to be current about.

David A. Zimmerman is the author of a spirituality of superheroes, Comic Book Character, and a book about the culture of narcissism, Deliver Us from Me-Ville (Available here). Get to know some of your global neighbors through the Dalit Freedom Network; get some ideas to write your senator about from the “Brent Anderson for President” pseudo-platform at the blog Loud Time.

Shelby Humphreys writes from Missoula, Montana where she has unabashidly sold-out to the real and rock-your-face-off presence of the living God. She continues to follow God out of the box while pitching her first book, Church Picnic: How God Saved Me from My Religion and Taught Me to be Radically Authentic. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/outtadbox.

Kristen Jeffrey lives in Seattle with her husband, Daniel, where she teaches ESL, and attends Seattle University as a graduate student. In her precious moments of free time she enjoys the great outdoors, a good book, watching old Westerns, and writing about any and all of those things.

Stephanie Larson has graduated with a degree in painting and fancies herself to one day make art for a living. She is living in Chicago but is soon to move to San Diego, as she has been told that “it has great weather.”

Eric Roberts is living south of Houston, north of Galveston, and just down the road from Nasa. In spite of getting his bachelors in philosophy he found a job. Eric teaches high school kids with special needs and goes by the professional designation of Mr. Roberts, Mr. Eric, Mr. Eric Roberts, or Hey.

Taylor Eby currently lives in the town of Cambridge, Ontario. He enjoys a good cup of tea while reading Kurt Vonnegut or listening to Pink Floyd. He occasionally dabbles in making and writing music. Taylor is soon headed to the Dominican Republic with friends where he will be living and working with a group that provides food and aid to Haitian refugees. Taylor is also shifty and tends to fidget.

Randy lives in Medford, OR with his wife, his 2 year old son, and a Yorkshire Terrier named Basil of Bakerstreet. He’s got blondish-brownish hair and wears t-shirts sometimes.

John Pattison is the Deputy Editor of the Burnside Writers Collective. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughter, Molly Elizabeth, who is one.

Descended from a long line of European aristocracy that married ever socially downward, Noel Caeden is a plain gal confronting what it means to be White and American within the multi-racial Body of Christ in Northeast Portland.

Karen Spears Zacharias lives in a loft near the Special Forces Museum in downtown Fayetteville. N.C., where she serves as an editorial writer for the Fayetteville Observer. She is author of Where’s Your Jesus Now? (Zondervan, 2008). Her handsome beau of 30 years, Tim, lives in Hermiston, Oregon, where he teaches high school history and coaches football and basketball. The couple have four children in their 20s. When they are not commuting across country, the couple enjoys hiking, reading, cheering on their beloved Beavers, and playing with Poe, their year-old Beagle. This family of six would like to say an special thank you to Verizon for helping them stay in touch.

Catheryn Brockett is a writer, actor and comedienne, appeared on TV and starred in dozens of commercials, advertising everything from vacuum cleaners to Icelandic banks. She is way funny. This is her website.

Aaron Donley has no important sounding credentials. His writing and speaking abilities are not considered ‘dynamic.’ He lives in a town like yours with a few average people, whom he loves a normal amount. He did ok in college. He writes comedy.

Chad Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama is the author of two books, and though neither have been published, he will gladly print you a copy at Kinkos. A mixture of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Norman Rockwell, and Tiger Woods, Gibbs likes to remind Christians that laughing is not a sin, unless of course they are laughing during premarital sex. You can learn more about Chad at www.chadgibbs.com, specifically you’ll learn he doesn’t know how to design a web-site.

Dean Nelson, Ph.D., is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He has written for the New York Times and the Boston Globe and has won several top awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the CINE Society Golden Eagle Award for a screenplay.

Andrew Canavan is a 2005 graduate of Wheaton College (BA, History). He currently lives, works, writes (www.run-rise-rest.blogspot.com), and eats outrageously greasy food in his beloved hometown of Philadelphia.

Akitomo Sugawara is currently a Promotions Editor for IGN.com, and worked as an online editor for Gamepro.com. He attends Trinity Evangelical Free Church, and became a Christ follower in Japan even though he was born and raised in the States.

Bo White has degrees from Central College and Covenant Theological Seminary. He lives outside Phoenix, AZ where he works for a relief and development organization named Food for the Hungry, mobilizing college students to eradicate all forms of human poverty. He has continued his education through Regent College in Vancouver and continues to have delusions of being a writer, dreams that U2 and R.E.M. would tour together, and desires impossible things to come true sooner than later.

Robin Wiseman is Scottish. He also hasn’t given us information for a bio yet. Soon!

Sarah Raymond Cunningham is a pastor’s daughter turned critic of standardized, institution-heavy faith practices. A teacher, author, and speaker, Sarah has written for Relevant Magazine, Catalyst, and other Christian journals and has recently published her first book, Dear Church: Letters From A Disillusioned Generation, with Zondervan (dearchurch.com). Sarah lives in Jackson, Michigan with her husband, Chuck.

Emery Josephine Clark, aged 24, has never eaten fish. And you can’t make her, so stop trying. She has recently moved from California to Oklahoma City where she lives with her husband and her 18 month old son, Ezra. When she’s not busy changing diapers, she likes to write music. When she’s not writing music, she likes to watch Toy Story or run through the sprinklers. She should not be allowed to have a blog, but she does.

Richard Dahlstrom is the Senior Pastor at Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA. He loves to converse over good coffee; to hike and climb in the Cascades, Colorado, and Europe; his wife; his kids; and early mornings, again with good coffee, on the deck - quietly listening for the voice of the Creator.

Stephen is a psychologist and a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has written articles for Relevant Magazine, Runner’s World Magazine and local publications. He has also had short fiction published in The Toasted Cheese Literary Magazine and is the co-author of What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Sex coming from Baker Books in Spring 2007.

Michael Wooten lives with his wife Nelleke in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While finishing a masters degree in Media Literacy and philosophy at the University of Michigan, he also works in the residence life department. When time permits, Mike enjoys red wine, good books and loud music.

we are the cry of the exodus.
there is no home for us here.
we are a nomadic tribe of psalters,
walking in the footsteps of ancients past
to the far corners of the present,
united as one voice against the
oppression within and without.
one more echo in the eternal song of our
First Love, our Hope, our Pillar of Fire

A journalist, freelance writer, and youth pastor who graduated from Houghton College, Matt’s work has appeared in Killing the Buddha, GROUP, The Revealer , and SoMA Review. He and his beautiful wife Laurel live in Utica, NY.

Pamela Rivers has been teaching fifth grade in the Los Angeles area for the last five years. She recently finished her Master’s Degree in Educational Technology and is in the process of writing her first book on education.

Larry Shallenberger is a pastor and author from Erie, PA. He unwinds listening to post-bop jazz. His next book Random Acts is scheduled for release in July of 2007. Although he was minted as black belt just a few short years ago, the third child and the writing has returned Larry to an inflexible and doughy middle aged man. He’s just 20 pounds shy of making the weight class for ordination.

Troy is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where he majored in general studies. He will be starting law school at Regent University School of Law in the fall. UofM and Regent will hopefully make him the perfect balance between liberal and conservative. His interests include sports, reading, and Adam Morrison.

Michael Brown rarely gets a second glance from strangers. His unassuming nature is a testament to God’s goodness. How else could he have ended up with a beautiful wife and three above average boys? Michael holds a wacky array of degrees from the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin and Wheaton College. As a prolific daydreamer, Michael envisions the “perfect job” revolving around cycling, Chicago style pizza and the Rocky Mountains. When forced to work for the “man”, his most recent gig involves masquerading as a pastor in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Madeline Dickerson lives on the docile, tourist infested Long Beach Peninsula in Washington. While masquerading as a high school student, Madeline is not only the film and music reviewer for the Ilwaco High School Golden I but she has also been published in the Coast River Business Journal. Once graduated, Madeline plans on attending the U of O or Emerson College to study Journalism in between rounds of golf.

Michael lives in Seattle and is working on getting his degree in English at Seattle Pacific University. He works at Pike Place Market where he sells olive oil to wealthy tourists and gets free cookies and tea from the girls who work in the bakery next door. He aspires to write books and own a Christmas tree farm, among other things.

Jack Legg is a college student with a funny last name. His life is devoted to ministry among the inner-city poor. He was voted president of the National Honors Society in high school. Unfortunately, he lost this position during the induction ceremony when he walked to the microphone and publicly denounced the group as a cult.

Mark Petterson is a 19 year-old former college dropout currently living in the untamed wilderness near Lawrence, Kansas. He wasn’t heard from for two years in the late 1990’s and was assumed dead but was eventually found floating adrift and clinging to life by a Peruvian fishing vessel. Now he spends his time pretending to take classes at the University of Kansas as well as fixing broken cars and breaking perfectly good guitars. He collects rare Bob Dylan LP’s even though he has never understood a single word the guy has ever said or sung.

Jonathan D. Fitzgerald is an Adjunct Professor of English at Gordon College. He currently lives with his wife Stephanie in the same town as John Updike, though he has never met him. Other publications include Integrite - A Faith and Learning Journal, RelevantMagazine.com, and a forthcoming book review in Books and Culture. To read other pieces by Jonathan, including works in progress, visit www.undergroundflowershop.com/words.

Stephanie Nikolopoulos is a writer and editor in New York City. She has been writing reviews for Burnside Writers Collective since 2006 and the “Church Hopping” column for the BWC blog since 2008. Her writing has appeared elsewhere in books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and, of course, online. She recently founded Asphalt Eden.

Rachel lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she graduated from Calvin College, attends Mars Hill Bible Church, and teaches English in an inner city alternative high school.

Mike Boone is about to be a graduate of one of the finest former women’s colleges in north Florida, with a degree that is mostly symbolic. He knows more about college football than you do and is largely uninterested in your opinions on the subject, if its all the same to you. When he is not teaching teenagers about the sweet love of God personalized in Jesus Christ, or discussing the finer points of the 4-4-2 formation, he enjoys a fine cigar and a cold glass of water.

Dave Johnson gets paid to write grants. He would rather get paid to read and write and cook and travel. If you would like to pay him to do any or all of these things, please get in touch with him through the BWC. Dave Johnson lives in Portland. You should too.

Todd Johnson hails from the Commonwealth of Kentucky but is a Seattle-ite at heart. A yeti sympathizer, former cubicle dweller, and Asbury College journalism grad, he currently makes a comfortable living on the Tibetan plateau by selling gullible celebrities maps to living Buddha’s homes. When he is not dabbling in the dark arts of journalism - publishing, poetry, blogging, etc. - he spends his time wrestling the Chinese language into submission and enjoying his stranger-than-fiction life with his lovely wife and daughters.

Jeff Donaldson is a twenty four year old living in Columbus, Ohio; he is married and has no pets. Given his druthers, he would spend his entire day writing books and teaching people about Jesus. He presently is an ABA Therapist for children with Autism.

Kirsten Krymusa is a Canadian currently living, writing, teaching, painting, and mothering in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sara Sterley graduated from Converse College in Spartanburg , SC in 2003. She is currently living the dream as an account manager for MJ Insurance in Indianapolis , IN. She resides near Indianapolis with her hilarious husband, Grant, and pooch named Roxy who is one part yellow lab, one part miniature poodle, and most parts “wanker.” In her free time, Sara enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and doing pretty much anything that involves being outside.

Jessica Inman will write or edit just about anything for money. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma (motto: “Don’t hate the 918” or, alternately, “I’m down with T-town”). Sometimes her social rage manifests itself in unstable ways, so don’t pay attention to her if she ever, you know, throws a drink at you or something. Not that that’s ever happened. Anyway, she shares her home and workspace with two emotionally needy Pomeranians and loves words, good food and good music.

Mercy Adhiambo Orengo is 20 years old and lives in Kenya, East Africa. Her great awakening happened nine years ago but it is still engraved on her mind.

Kimberly Roth is a barefoot Arkansan still searching the Ozark foothills for her literary voice. Convinced her voice is hiding amongst the ruins of Saturday morning yard sales, she frequents them almost religiously. In the meantime, she rambles on at www.barefootbohemian.blogspot.com about some of this and a little of that.

Bob is a Boston area freelance writer with nearly four decades of experience in the communications industry; beginning his career in 1969 at The Los Angeles Herald Examiner in Los Angeles, CA, where he also fervently pursued Hippiedom. Hey, it was the sixties! Bob has incorporated his numerous writings into a book entitled, Through A Glass Darkly: An Anthology and is near the completion of another non-fiction book, Be Not Dismayed: A Story of Spiritual Triumph. Any publishers out there? Curious? Bored? Check out www.BobHavey.com

Diane Nienhuis lives in Holland, MI and is a High School Spanish Teacher in Grand Rapids. She is also a member of Mars Hill Bible Church. She enjoys sewing, kayaking and traveling. Oh, and laughing. She would like to find a way to do all four things at the same time while pursuing a simple life. This year she plans to write a book or at least regularly update her blog.

Jonathan Dodson is happy husband to Robie and proud father of Owen and Ellie. He is also the church planting pastor of Austin City Life in Austin, Texas. For kicks he likes listening to Midlake and M. Ward, reading and watching philosophical and cheezy sci-fi, and living the missional life locally and globally.

Dave is a Restoration Biologist with the Stillaguamish Indian Tribe in NW Washington. He holds a M.S. degree from the University of Michigan, enjoys the Detroit Tigers, and likes rain. With his wife Holly and son James, he resides in Bellingham, WA.

Travelling the world and worshipping God with all His people has always been Kim’s dream. Having snagged a German husband along the way, Kim now resides with her spouse, their two precocious daughters, and their three rescue dogs in Carmel “by the Corn” (as dubbed by the locals), Indiana. A former world language teacher, Kim has the Tower of Babel incident to thank for giving her a very flexible career as a free-lance translator and cultural consultant, which allows her to pursue creative endeavors like writing and painting.

M. Morford (Morf) lives in the wet and green part of Washington state. He has taught in many unlikely situations, including prisons, Native American Tribal colleges (about 6 years), Chinese colleges (one year in Beijing) , his local rescue mission, and county jails as well as university online courses. He is contemplating yet another career move- preferably involving teaching, writing and working with interesting and unlikely people.

Favorite things are interesting foods, wacky music, swimming, riding his bike, and afternoon naps.

Favorite quote: “The mind that is not baffled is not employed.” Wendell Berry

Haley Clark is a therapist working with traumatized children at Childhaven in Seattle, Washington, and Gulu, Uganda. She enjoys long conversations in Seattle coffee shops, playing cards in Ugandan huts and the laughter of children in both places. Her favorite pastimes are drinking coffee and camping in the northwest; chai and card-playing in the huts of Gulu; but most of all, she enjoys the children of both places. Her latest project includes starting an NGO in Gulu called LIGHT.

Bryan is the father of two, the husband of one, and the slave of no man, though his devotion to the Red Sox could be described as a form of servitude. Bryan is the head writer for Prayers For Blowouts (a sports/faith website) and writes daily at his personal blog. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Bryan now lives in Intercourse, Pennsylvania (no, really) and would appreciate it if you stopped taking so many pictures of the Amish.