Koinonia Newsletter — December 2022
A quick look at the last month of the year
Happy New Year, friends!
We’ve just celebrated the most blessed season on the Christian calendar. We at Koinonia hope you’re still enjoying the warmth and beauty of Christmas. Please pray with us for a safe and happy 2023.
LOOKING BACK
In 2022, Koinonia Publication embarked on some new initiatives. First, we launched a brand-new section called Morning Devotions. Our writers share bite-sized devotionals, one-minute reads, for you to peruse and ponder over your cereal, toast, or morning beverage. Did you enjoy this new offering — tell us in the comments!
We also extracted all the writing advice from the Newsletter. Now, we publish a monthly Writing Wrap-up with links to writing-related posts by our writers along with a brief commentary on one important writing topic. This monthly feature article will surely evolve in 2023.
A new monthly writing prompt was added late in the year. We’ve always given our writers a Bible verse to respond to. Coming up with original topics to write about can be challenging — all writers experience dry spells that need a little watering. Writing prompts are splendid vehicles for providing inspiration.
Quick Stats
· As of December 31, 2022, we have had 498 writers join our publication! 94 new writers joined us in 2022 alone.
· Out of the 19 posting days of December (we don’t post on Sundays & we took last week off), we published 92 stories with an average of 4.8 per day.
· Readers invested 56,906 minutes reading Koinonia’s stories. THANK YOU!
· Koinonia has 3,266 followers. We gained 420 new followers in 2022.
· The total number of views Koinonia has received on all posts and pages is 33,368 Views (30 days).
· The average number of unique daily visitors who have visited Koinonia is 883 visitors (30-day average).
We posted our last editor interview about Sara Dagen: Getting to Know Sara Dagen
Special promotions from our writers
Lynne Collier was featured in an interview about her business. Read it here: Ever Want to Write a Book?
Nils von Kalm wants to you find him everywhere, so he shared his Linktree
Mary Gallagher added prayer cards in her Etsy shop.
Hadassah Treu I Author wants you to follow her on Instagram
Bonnie Blaylock published a book called Light to the Hills
Writer-promoted short form
Katharine Trauger has a plea, Help me save the U.S. Taxpayers
Julie Ranson finds a song’s lyrics tell God’s way of salvation in A Strange Way to Save the World
Mary Gallagher ponders chronos vs kairos time… because God stands outside time and space in I Sanctify Time
Writer-promoted poetry
Margie Hord de Mendez wrote a lovely poem, Snowflake
Kimberley Payne shares frosty thoughts in her First Snow haiku.
Jenny Alexander wrote a poem called All Things Are New
Writer-promoted content
Linda A Robinson, PhD missed the blood moon, but found something better, so she tells in A Fall Morn.
Katharine Trauger says Your 2022 Calendar is Over.
Mary Gallagher suggests that Not Forcing Kids to Sit on Santa’s Lap Teaches Them Bodily Autonomy
Elizabeth Erlandson talks about fitting in God’s Kingdom in No Missing Pieces
Kimberley Payne has some timely advice in How to Motivate Yourself to Like Exercise
Andrea Chelle shares her concerns about education in Children are Drowning in a Sea of Numbers
Julie Ranson answers an important question in A Painful Life is Still Worth Living
Paul Walker thinks we need to know more about Boxing Day, so he shares 9 Facts About Boxing Day
Lynne Collier describes the magical display she saw in her sunroom in A Forest of Christmas Trees
Jonathan Carey found four names for Jesus in Isaiah 9 and wrote about them in The 4 Ways the Christ Child Brings Peace
Joseph Serwach wonders whether our understanding of the classic film is like our view of the Bible. He ponders the film’s details in It’s a Wonderful Life: Like His Bible?
Lori Wangler asks Who Am I?
Andrea Cannon says we could all use a little more kindness in Cotton Mather’s Ideas for Doing Good
Elizabeth Erlandson share The Absolutely Shocking Truth About Idol Worship — It’s Not What You Think
Sarah K. Butterfield urges us to dwell also upon the humanity of Jesus in Why Jesus’ Human Body is Good News for Us
In January, some of our writers will write reflections on this scripture verse.
Writers, do you see what you’re missing?
Enjoy these conversations and learning opportunities as a member of our private Facebook group, Koinonia Medium Publication Writers. Again, this is for Koinonia writers only.
Want to write for Koinonia? Read here and complete the application at the end.
MORNING DEVOTIONS: We welcome Morning Devotions as single submissions and short series (2–3 posts). We are currently scheduling submissions about 1–2 days out, so you must wait briefly to see your post(s) appear. Please keep submitting! Submission Guidelines for Morning Devotions
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little round-up of what’s happening at Koinonia. If you have not yet liked our Koinonia Facebook Page, please like it today. This is where we post our published stories and then you can share them with your friends on social media.
Blessings and Peace,
Julie Ranson
Publication Owner
