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Write for The Lutheran Witness

The Lutheran Witness accepts unsolicited manuscripts based on upcoming themes. We are always looking out for compelling, readable, theologically rich writing. These formats include feature stories, teaching essays, narratives, personal stories, interviews, opinion pieces hot topics, listicles, humorous essays, unpublished hymns, Bible studies and more.

You may send a complete manuscript if you have one available, but an email query first is generally preferable and may save you time and trouble if the idea isn’t a good fit for us. Please note we are a small team, and we cannot respond to every query. We will reply if we decide to accept your submission. 

The upcoming themes for 2025 include:

  • Two Kingdoms — The Christian’s life in church and state (January)
  • The Small Church — Numerical decline in the LCMS, equipping smaller congregations (February)
  • The Sanctified Life in a Hostile World (March)
  • Old Testament Overview — And OT prophecies fulfilled in Easter (April)
  • Councils and Conventions — Council of Nicaea 1700th anniversary (May)
  • Christian Endurance — Corresponds with the theme of the LCMS Youth Gathering (June/July)

Other themes for 2025 will include: 

  • An Outline of Lutheran Doctrine 
  • A Lutheran Theology of the Body
  • The Sacrament of the Altar/Life in the Sacrament 
  • Lutheran Missiology
  • Tradition and Traditions 
Please note that issues are planned three or more months in advance. 

Please send a short article proposal, including a 100-200 word sample of your writing, using the box below. The article should be written using the Associated Press Stylebook, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition) and the LCMS Stylebook. Please quote Scripture from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless the wording of the story requires a different version.

Here is what you can expect:

Submit your article

Submit your article using the LW website.

Notification

If the article is accepted, you will receive an email from the editor to that effect and a contract for the article.

Editing phase

The editor will revise the manuscript and discuss these edits with the author. Final decision on editing belongs to LW.

Doctrinal review

Article will be sent through doctrinal review.

Compensation

You receive compensation for your article. See below for more information.

Publishing

Article will be publishing in an upcoming issue of The Lutheran Witness.

Expect at least 3 months from submission of your article to
actual publication. In most cases, it will take longer. 
Also note that we do not respond to every submission. 

Payment for commissioned articles is on a sliding scale, based in part on both the article length and complexity and the author’s credentials. Payment will be processed after an author’s contract has been signed and returned and the article in question has successfully passed doctrinal review. Excerpts from forthcoming books are uncompensated, as both the author and publisher can reasonably expect to derive material benefits from the publicity of their work.

Submission Form

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