Guild presidents Bob and Jennie Gillespie started in publishing as young Christians when they approached their pastor at Horizon Christian Fellowship about starting a magazine. Pastor Mike MacIntosh encouraged the couple to attend a special session at the Horizon School of Evangelism, taught by Dr. Sherwood “Woody” Wirt. “Woody convinced us that we needed to attend the school of writing he was heading up at Forest Home,” Jennie said. “We came home and started a critique group, which we held in our home for about eight years.”

Jennie admits that the critique process was difficult at first. “It was a revelation to me to submit my writing to the scrutiny of a critique group! It was a little rough going at first, but then I began to look forward to learning how I could improve my writing and how other people reacted to it. Then, being a part of the Guild helped me to feel like a real writer – to be a part of a fellowship of people with a similar call upon their lives. As I learned from other writers, I discovered how valuable the accountability is just to keep me writing. And the conferences—all those editors and new friends every year, old friends coming back – they have been inspiring, instructive and absolutely vital to my writing career. “

Wirt helped the Gillespies launch Horizon International Magazine, which they edited for ten years. Soon, he asked them to be on the SDCWG board, which they did off and on, in between having babies, for about ten years. After Wirt turned 85, he showed up in their living room with a box full of Guild records and said, “I’m retiring. It’s all yours!”

The Gillespies, who met at a church camp as teenagers and married at 20, were both raised going to church sporadically but neither had a full understanding of what it meant to walk with the Lord. They were drawn into the counter culture of the 60s, but during the Jesus Movement of the 70s, they began to search for the truth. They read a lot of spiritual literature from the Bible to New Age books to Jehovah Witness materials. “One day we asked the Lord to show us the truth,” Jennie said. “And He did! It was pretty much that simple.” They started attending the church that is now Horizon Christian Fellowship in 1975, went on staff four years later and have worked in full-time ministry since then. The couple has four children and three grandchildren.

Today, the Gillespies both work at Maranatha Chapel with Pastor Ray Bentley. Bob runs the media department where he oversees publications, Internet, radio, video and photography ministries. Jennie is the in-house editor, helping with books and booklets and editing various other ministry items. Jennie also freelances as an editor and has worked on numerous books with other authors. Right now, she is assisting on a book by Mary Jenson, based on her friendship with Nancy Bayless. And, after being encouraged by two different publishing houses, Jennie is starting a book of her own.

The Gillespie’s vision for the Guild is that we would continue to honor the Lord with the writing we produce and that we would never forget why we are here and why we write. “Our goal is not to increase in numbers,” Jennie said. “but in quality and depth, that we would, as a guild, stretch beyond our own church circles, embrace and minister to the body of Christ, and remain committed to reaching the world for Jesus.”

“If writing is your calling, then make it part of your walk with the Lord. Put your ego aside, and write for the glory of God. Write to help others, to inspire and move your readers, and to reach them with God’s love. Don’t ever reject constructive criticism and suggestions; listen to editors, instructors and other writers. You can only learn and grow as a writer and as a Christian. Consider your writing as a calling and as a craft to be learned and constantly improved upon. The fellowship and encouragement of knowing other writers supplies the spiritual and emotional support writers need; the critique groups and conferences provide the practical and inspiring information and contacts we also need. We have made some of the best friends we’ll ever know through the Guild.”

Based on the feedback from editors and publishing houses, the SDCWG is one of the most prolific and talented groups of writers in the country. Editors ask to be invited to our conference. “We like keeping the fall conference to a one day event because it makes it affordable and accessible to so many people,” Jennie said. “but would love to see Master Class, our three day writers retreat, be able to continue. Also, would like to see the critique groups strengthened and the hostesses more involved in the big events of the Guild.

“I think it’s important to stop and appreciate what we have in this guild. It was founded by a man, Dr. Sherwood Wirt, who not only has a call on his life to be a writer for the Lord, but also to encourage other writers. Woody is considered by many to be one of the fathers of the contemporary Christian publishing movement. We can be grateful that the Lord put him in San Diego for so many years and gave him a desire to encourage writers here and all over the world.”