Catherine Vance
Catherine Vance holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M as well as an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Washington University in St. Louis. She was a recipient of the Dobie-Paisano Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. Courses she has taught for Writespace include Social Justice Memoir, Transforming Trauma, The Lyric Essay, Writing Your Dreams, and The Poetry of Relationship. A former college English teacher, she is a trained chaplain working toward her Master’s in Divinity at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She is the author of The Mountains Under Her Feet (Balance of Seven Press, 2023) and the short story collection The Orchard Camp (2008). Her poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction have been published in a variety of literary journals. Read some of her work and learn more about her at catherinevance.com. Connect with her on Instagram @bluemtns2sea.
Excerpt from Catherine's non-fiction piece “Take a Liberal to Church”
At the Celebrate Recovery church, which looked more like an event center, a worship service came before the sharing circle. When I first walked through the double doors, I was immediately skeptical about any benefit I might receive. Here was a lobby full of folks munching on pepperoni pizza and drinking iced tea. A plump blonde woman in a besparkled denim jacket made a beeline for me. She pointed to the name tag table. “We’re so glad you’re here,” she said. “And please help yourself to some food before you head on in.”
I filled out my name tag and picked up a paper plate. “Thanks,” I told the man serving. My piece of pizza was as limp as my expectations. “Sure thing,” he said. “Come back next week. It’ll be Chick-Fil-A. We alternate.”
I glanced through another set of doors and saw the well-lit stage I had envisioned, complete with a four-piece band and a singer in tights and a short skirt. The drummer was banging on his kit, testing out his rhythms, while church-goers buzzed around a field of folding chairs, shaking hands and clapping each other on the shoulder. A movie-sized screen loomed behind the band.
This was going to be very different from my experience of a polished wood and red-carpeted sanctuary, from the calm Calvinist hymns and restrained intellectual sermons I grew up hearing in my Presbyterian Church. And, looking at the flier an usher handed me, it was certainly going to be the polar opposite of my Unitarian way of believing. “Testimony at 7:30,” it said. “The eight recovery principles based on the Beatitudes,” it said. Unitarians believe in personal creeds, in a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” We come from all kinds of traditional religious backgrounds, from atheism and humanism too. Jesus was welcome, but he was only one of many options.
At the Celebrate Recovery church, which looked more like an event center, a worship service came before the sharing circle. When I first walked through the double doors, I was immediately skeptical about any benefit I might receive. Here was a lobby full of folks munching on pepperoni pizza and drinking iced tea. A plump blonde woman in a besparkled denim jacket made a beeline for me. She pointed to the name tag table. “We’re so glad you’re here,” she said. “And please help yourself to some food before you head on in.”
I filled out my name tag and picked up a paper plate. “Thanks,” I told the man serving. My piece of pizza was as limp as my expectations. “Sure thing,” he said. “Come back next week. It’ll be Chick-Fil-A. We alternate.”
I glanced through another set of doors and saw the well-lit stage I had envisioned, complete with a four-piece band and a singer in tights and a short skirt. The drummer was banging on his kit, testing out his rhythms, while church-goers buzzed around a field of folding chairs, shaking hands and clapping each other on the shoulder. A movie-sized screen loomed behind the band.
This was going to be very different from my experience of a polished wood and red-carpeted sanctuary, from the calm Calvinist hymns and restrained intellectual sermons I grew up hearing in my Presbyterian Church. And, looking at the flier an usher handed me, it was certainly going to be the polar opposite of my Unitarian way of believing. “Testimony at 7:30,” it said. “The eight recovery principles based on the Beatitudes,” it said. Unitarians believe in personal creeds, in a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” We come from all kinds of traditional religious backgrounds, from atheism and humanism too. Jesus was welcome, but he was only one of many options.
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers
- Writing Past Dark: Envy, Fear, Distraction, and Other Dilemmas in the Writer’s Life, Bonnie Friedman
- The Writing Life, Annie Dillard
- The Memoir Project, Marion Roach Smith
- Writing Hard Stories, Melanie Brooks
Teaching Philosophy
I consider myself a facilitator rather than a lecturer. The goal is to help students focus and develop meaningful stories and essays. Learning to give and receive critiques in a supportive environment is part of the process also. I provide a framework of writing prompts, questions for thought and class discussion, and examples of excellent writing for analysis.
I consider myself a facilitator rather than a lecturer. The goal is to help students focus and develop meaningful stories and essays. Learning to give and receive critiques in a supportive environment is part of the process also. I provide a framework of writing prompts, questions for thought and class discussion, and examples of excellent writing for analysis.