Young Storytellers Fellowship
An opportunity for the next generation of creatives
HERE AT INKWELL, we’ve been having many 1.5 hour-long meetings that elicit passionate screeds on fonts & color pairings, photographic styles & editorial directions, and everything in between. But ultimately we just want to create a dynamic space for you—the creative, the storyteller, the thinker & dreamer—to thrive and find a place to converse and connect with like-minds.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that applications for the 2025 Young Storytellers Fellowship have finally opened! Go ahead and learn more, apply, share with a friend, and see what happens.
The Acceptable Vice
Enjoy this feature essay from Isaac Wood, an alumni of our first Fellowship last year, who proceeded to have his article on coffee, caffeine & church life published in Christianity Today!
Young Storytellers Fellowship Details
This 6-month experience will begin in September 2025 and conclude in February 2026. Participants will engage in two 3-day, in-person immersions at the start and conclusion of the program with multiple virtual meetings throughout. All travel costs and materials are included.
Program Framework
Month 1: Attune | Understanding the Story
Month 2: Contemplate | Approaching the Depths
Month 3: Evaluate | Analyzing the Moment
Month 4: Speculate | Forming a Theory
Month 5: Envision | Casting a Vision
Month 6: Excel | Creating a Reality
Who We’re Looking For
We are seeking diverse evangelical storytellers, creatives & communicators, Christian influencers, and media specialists between the ages of 18-27. College students, recent graduates, graduate students, seminarians, and early career applicants are welcome. We are open to creatives of all stripes:
• Artists
• Writers
• Creatives
• Designers
• Videographers
• Communicators
• Pastors/Ministry Leaders
Next Steps
Apply to the fellowship today using this form. Application deadline is June 15, 2025. Questions may be submitted to Hannah Glad at hglad@christianitytoday.com. Accelerate your gifts, grow in community and connect with opportunity to become exemplary storytellers.
Beautifully written. The way you weave the history into our modern usage, and the psychology behind it, is compelling. A couple years ago I turned 40 and as a birthday gift to myself I took a year off coffee and alcohol. It was so freeing. I want to enjoy both deliberately, as gifts, and not under compulsion.
Isaac, this was fabulous. I so resonate with the internal dialogue around my caffeine consumption and the strangeness of caffeine being an "acceptable vice" for Christians. I myself have mostly switched to decaf, but the occasional full-caff cup is a treat. I really like your decision to pray before you have a cup. I will carry this essay with me.