Over the past two weeks I’ve been setting up a Substack called simply Sallie Schaaf Borrink. If you receive my newsletter or follow me on Telegram, you already knew this was in the works. But it’s ready enough to start sending people over there and networking on the platform. If I wait until it’s just the way I want it, it will never happen.  

I realized a few weeks ago that I could post content from my main website on Substack as well. This allows me to reach an entirely different audience who will never find me any other way. It also allows me to participate in a niche over there where I offer a somewhat middle-of-the-road approach compared to many of the writers on Substack. I think it will be needed in the years ahead. 

So that’s one thing I’ve been doing during my Christmas vacation. I’ve been choosing posts to republish on my Substack and getting things set up.  

What I put on Substack will only be a fraction of what I have written here and will not include everything I write here moving forward. I have a very specific group of women (and men) I am hoping to reach over there. Someone described them as women in the gray area between complementarianism and egalitarianism. 

There are many Christian women who see the obvious flaws with complementarianism and the way it is both taught and practiced. At the same time, they are not comfortable with egalitarianism either. I’ve been honest that I loathe the term egalitarian. I have grudgingly used it at times, but I don’t like it. I think it is flawed, inaccurate, and carries too much political and social baggage. Hard-core patriarchy is being pushed now in certain circles and it’s naive to think it won’t impact parts of the conservative church in the years ahead. I think all three of the major views have problems.

And feminism as a movement is an obvious no for me. 

So where does that leave women like this? In a gray area of not fitting in anywhere. And as the pendulum swings back hard in response to what’s happened in the culture, I’m honestly concerned how it will play out. I’ve seen a version of this before and cannot in good conscience stand by and say nothing.  

In any case, my hope it to connect with women (and men) over on Substack who are living in that gray area and feel alone. I know what it is like to make choices you don’t like and that you truly believe diminish you as a person because you won’t compromise on the core issues of the faith. It’s a lonely road. It truly is. 

I’m also using Substack to let people know I write about other topics over here in case that interests them. You can see those links on the Substack menu related to Homeschooling, Gracious Christian Parenting, Gifted/2e, and Unit Studies. I can’t do all the things on Substack, but want people to know I have lots of content about those topics as well on this main website.

I’m offering a membership on Substack for people who find me and might only want to participate over there. But if you are a reader here then I encourage you to purchase the Premium Membership here. There will be far more Premium posts here that cover all the topics on my website. Any paid posts on Substack will be also offered here for Premium members. The only reason to purchase a Substack membership would be if you want to engage in paid post discussions over there or simply want to support my work on Substack so it grows and reaches more people. If you want to follow me for free over there and/or share my Substack content on social media, I would greatly appreciate it.