An Interview with Tony Cartledge
1. How would you describe your calling and mission as a writer and as a Christian?
I am probably happiest in my professional life when I am writing, whether the subject is a sermon, a Bible commentary, an editorial, a news article, or a book project. I harbor a vague empty spot if I am not working on some sort of writing project, and so far there has been no lack of them. In a sense, I see this as a confirmation that God has gifted me in writing, and called me to use that gift in proclaiming or promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Which books have had the greatest impact on your ministry?
I'd have to begin with the Bible, of course, especially after I learned to appreciate its textual history, literary development, and nuances of language. Any number of favorite grammar, lexicon and theological dictionaries have supported that effort. I have always been more inspired by missionary biographies and well-written Bible commentaries than by church histories or systematic theologies. Bob Dale's books on church administration and leadership were helpful in practical matters. For spiritual reflection, I have long been a fan of Frederick Buechner's insightful volumes. In recent years, I've been drawn to Brian McLaren's growing corpus of contributions to our understanding of faith in a postmodern world.
3. How important do you feel writing is in the world of religion?
The impact of writing on the world of religion cannot be measured, as humans have sought to codify or reflect their understanding of the divine for as long as they have known how to put words in physical form. In the Ancient Near Eastern world, innumerable documents were devoted to the gods, whether in brittle clay cuneiform tablets, stone monuments, or heiroglyphics on papyrus or building walls. Israel's identity cannot be separated from the people's covenant with God and the giving of the commandments. Israel's historians, theologians, prophets and poets understood the importance of preserving their faith understanding in written form, giving rise to the scriptures. This human impetus for putting theological belief into written texts has continued, and (I believe) will continue as long as humankind uses words to communicate. It is only natural to express our deepest needs, hopes, and aspirations in written form.
Beyond the basic desire to preserve faith understandings, writing (along with reading) has served and continues to serve as an essential medium for communicating the gospel and having conversations about faith. The popularity of religiously-oriented books, the explosion of the Internet, and the plethora of Web sites devoted to religious matters provide abundant evidence of the importance of writing in communicating religious beliefs.
4. When did you first become interested in writing?
As a ten-year-old, I began to sense that God wanted me to be involved in some sort of "Christian" service as a missionary or pastor, and this intensified during my senior year in high school. It was also in high school that I discovered an interest in writing through my English teacher, June Kelley. These two interests developed along different paths for some time: on the ministry side, I moved from service as a BSU summer missionary to becoming a "preacher boy," and youth revival leader, to accepting a call as pastor at the age of 20.
Meanwhile, I edited my high school newspaper and wrote sports features for The Red and Black, the college newspaper at the University of Georgia. While serving as pastor in Hogansville, Ga., I also wrote a devotional column for the local newspaper, The Hogansville Herald.
After moving to North Carolina and entering Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, I continued serving a church, but also started writing for Proclaim magazine. During the next few years I also had articles published in The Student and The Deacon magazine, all publications of the former Baptist Sunday School Board. While doing my doctoral work, I wrote for academic journals (a different style of writing altogether!). And, during my last pastorate, I began to write weekly commentaries for the Smyth & Helwys Formations curriculum. The project began as an effort to encourage our church to use the material before a commentary was available. Eventually, I was asked to continue the project in Baptists Today, and this continued until I accepted my current position.
As a pastor, the two streams of pastoral ministry and writing flowed side by side, with ministry being the larger stream. When I became editor of the Biblical Recorder, writing became more paramount.
5. What are the great joys in writing for you?
In one sense, the pleasure of writing is like the pleasure of washing the dishes or mowing the lawn--though labor is involved, there is a great sense of accomplishment in the finished product: you can see where you've been. There is joy in turning a well-crafted phrase or completing a sermon or article that clarifies an important truth.
For me, the greatest joy of writing is the sense of communicating and connecting with my readers. In the academic world, I learned to write in such stilted and arcane language that only other academics could understand it. While there is some pleasure to be found in producing a properly obfuscatory puzzle for the reader, it is a small pleasure. My greatest joy in writing is to tell a story or explain an issue in such a fashion that ordinary readers will not only understand what I'm trying to communicate, but also enjoy the engagement.
6. Where did the inspiration come from to write A Whole New World: Life After Bethany?
From Bethany, of course--and from the new world in which we found ourselves after her death. Early on, Jan and I made a commitment to God and to each other that we would be good stewards of our pain--that we would not let the hard lessons learned from Bethany's death be in vain.
As a result, we have both been writing about it in various ways from the earliest days of that dark experience. As time passed and our perspective lengthened, it was only natural that we would want to share what we had learned in the form of a book. In one sense, the book is a tribute to Bethany. In a larger sense, it is a gift of our transformed pain.
7. How do you feel A Whole New World: Life After Bethany can impact the reader?
On one level, it will impact the reader's emotions--one reviewer has rated it "Ten Boxes of Kleenex." The book's tragic subject and raw emotion can be hard to read: though I have read Jan's account of choosing a casket and saying her last goodbye to Bethany many times, I inevitably tear up and cry.
On another level, however, we hope the book will impact the reader's thinking. We confront common understandings (or misunderstandings) of divine providence, for example, and we hope the book will encourage readers to think new thoughts about this and other subjects related to personal grieving and the place of God.
8. Briefly describe your current ministry.
My primary ministry is expressed through the role of editor/president of the Biblical Recorder, the news journal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. I also continue to enjoy writing projects not necessarily related to the Recorder, along with speaking and teaching in a variety of settings. I would like to say that I'm also deeply involved in personal ministries of caring for others, but the statement would be untrue. That is a growth area for me.
9. Outside of your ministry, how do you enjoy spending time?
Family time is the best time for me. I enjoy playing with Samuel and watching him grow. Jan and I enjoy travel a great deal, and Samuel is a good sport about it. Jan and I enjoy golf (though not often enough), as well as musical theater.
Personally, I long for time to read books that are pure fun, like Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Every few years, I treat myself to a rereading of Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
10. What would readers be surprised to know about you?
I've written so much and often so transparently that I have few surprises left. I'm left-handed, right-eared, Lasik-enhanced, and snake-bitten, but those characteristics shouldn't be particularly surprising. I once spent a summer swinging shifts at a spinning mill, which answered any doubts I ever had about going to college. Some might be surprised to know that I set out to become a pharmacist, but chose a different path when my qualitative and quantitative analysis professor started using calculus to solve a chemistry problem. I always excelled in math, but when my calculus teacher introduced imaginary numbers, I couldn't imagine them. I shifted to biology/chemistry education and taught school for a while. For a year I was the entire science department at a small high school, but a baby possum who wanted to nest in my shirt helped to shift my career ambitions elsewhere.
