Do you love writing? Are you passionate about exploring life and faith through stories? Perfect! Our Christian Short Story competition is your chance to reflect on Scripture and bring it to life.  Our next competition is running through the month of August. Check out the details below, where you can also see the winning entries from last year’s competition.



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

For that first competition, entrants were asked to write a story based on Matthew 5:37, bringing this scripture to life (“Let your yes be yes and your no be no”) through their own creative lens. The winning entries are published below.

First place: 

Simply Yes, by Sophie Stocker. 

This beautiful and original story held our attention from start to finish and was well deserving of its first place. Sophie painted a sensitive picture which tugged at the heartstrings while skilfully getting the message across.

Read Here

Second equal:

Escapism, by Sheila Lee

Many of us might have seen ourselves in these characters. This well-written, fast-moving story had a most satisfactory ending, and conveyed its message without preaching. Well done, Sheila!

Read Here

Third equal:

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

Bob was a master storyteller who knew how to capture the attention of his readers. This was a fairly simple war story with an engaging
opening paragraph which quickly drew us in. It communicated its point with realism and sensitivity. Congratulations, Bob!

Read Here

How it works:

The Theme

The theme for this year’s competition is inspired by 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.

Who Can Enter

This year, entries will be accepted from congregants from all North Shore Baptist churches. The competition may be opened more widely in the future.

Submission Details

Length: Up to 2000 words
Genre: Fiction
Format: MS Word document with 1.5 line spacing
Entries open: From August 1, 2026
Submissions close: August 31, 2026

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

Prize

🥇 1st place – $500
🥈 2nd place – $250
🥉 3rd place – $175

Prizes have been generously funded by an anonymous donor. In the event of a tie, the pooled prize will be shared.

Judging

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

 The judges’ decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Publication

Winning stories will be published on the website, with promotional support to share them more widely.

Submit Your Short Story

Please attach your story along with its title and your full name and church affiliation, via the button below. Entries close on August 31, 2026.

Submit Short Story