Do you love writing? Are you passionate about exploring life and faith through stories? Perfect! Our Christian Story-Writing Competition is your chance to reflect on Scripture and bring it to life with your words. Our next competition is running throughout the month of August. Check out the details further down the page. You can also see our winning entries from our first competition below:



Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.

For our first Christian Story-Writing Competition, entrants were asked to write a short story based on Matthew 5:37, drawing relevance and life to this scripture through their creative lens. See our winning entries below (from left to right, first place to second tied):

Simply Yes, by Sophie Stocker

This beautiful and original story holds our attention from start to finish, and is well deserving of its first place. Sophie has painted a sensitive picture which tugs at the heartstrings while skilfully getting her message across.

Read Here

Escapism, by Sheila Lee

Many of us might see ourselves in these characters. This well-written, fast-moving story has a most a satisfactory ending, and it conveys its message without preaching. Well done, Sheila!

Read Here

Remaining True to Yourself After Times of War, by Bob Hines

Bob is a master storyteller who knows how to capture the attention of his readers. This is a fairly simple war story with an engaging opening paragraph which quickly draws us in. It communicates its point with both realism and sensitivity. Congratulations Bob!

Read Here

How it works:

The Theme

The theme for this year's competition is inspired by an aspect of the Lord’s Prayer. Choose a specific passage—such as “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) or “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12)—and explore its meaning in a practical, real-life context.

Stories should show how this part of the prayer can be lived out today. Judges will also be looking for creativity in expression, whether through fiction or non-fiction storytelling.

Who Can Enter

Entries will be accepted from congregants from any North Shore Baptist churches, with the possibility of opening to wider NZ residents should the opportunity arise. Entrants should be sympathetic to Christian thinking.

Submission Details

Word count: Up to 2,000 words
Genres: Fiction or non-fiction
Format: MS Word document, 1.5 paragraph spacing
Entries Open: August 1st, 2026
Submission Closes: August 31st, 2026

We encourage you to get your story peer-reviewed before submission.

Prize

🥇 1st place – $500
🥈 2nd place – $250
🥉 3rd place – $175
(In the event of a tie, the pooled prize will be shared. Generously funded by an anonymous donor.)

Judging

Our judging panel includes: Stephanie Allison
Julie Belding
John Wearn
(One more judge to be confirmed)

Judges will review all recommended stories and vote on the winners. The judges’ decisions will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into. Judges may also provide comments to authors where possible.

Publication

Winning and highly recommended stories will be published, with promotional support to share them more widely.

Submit Your Short Story

Please attach your story along with your full name and the title of your short story, via the button below. Entries close on August 31st, 2026.

Submit Short Story