Why We Stopped Publishing Articles (Kind Of)

One of the novels I was working on in high school

By Carolyn Ferguson

I recently received an email “From women around the world” begging us to revisit our mission at theYCW, which is providing original content for young Catholic women. For around nine years we published thousands of articles written by young women (and myself), all of which are still available to read today; however, in the Spring of 2023 we made a big shift.

Instead of publishing articles to guide theYCW on her spiritual journey, we shifted primarily into providing products to guide theYCW on her spiritual journey. I’m not sure I’ve ever fully explained why.

To start, the letter I received touched my heart. I’m aware that this platform has deeply influenced SO many women’s relationships with Christ, and for that I am eternally grateful that I had a small role in facilitating that. I understand that some (many?) may wish we return to our roots, but in a way, by making this shift I have.

Let me explain.

During a Spiritual Exercises retreat in the Fall of 2021, I was hit with this feeling that theYCW had to change. That change prompted the ending of our quarterly magazine, VIGIL—something that was so life-giving and still a DREAM to revive one day with funding. It was all becoming too much to manage.

Within the next few months, I would lose my brother-in-law, get married, and become pregnant for the first time, only to lose our baby a few weeks later. I was also turning thirty, which made me reflect on what “young” means. I had to discern what it meant and looks like for all of my little-v vocations to serve my family. And as a newlywed, I was able to exercise my deep love for interior design and finally making a home after years and years of renting.

But two things really helped seal the deal with making the decision to cut back on publishing articles.

First, Peter helped me to understand the true responsibility of running a site like this. I became very aware that I was not equipped nor prepared for the duty of publishing articles on such a far-reaching platform—yes, even ten years later. In other words, I became aware that so many of our articles were so emotionally based, nor vetted for heresies or theological errors. Ideally we would have a priest, religious, or theologian editing our articles for grave errors. It was hard to admit this and truly humbling, but it was a decision made out of clarity and not fear. I felt empowered to also make this decision knowing that there were many other sites that provided rich content for young Catholic women that were equipped to publish theologically sound articles that I could direct our audience to, sites such as FemCatholic and BlessedIsShe. Furthermore, I want to encourage women to write for them as well. But I’m not sure I ever really said that.

Second, I had a friend encourage me to do exactly what this woman wrote in her letter: to reconsider “the real mission” and “going back to this mission.” But for me, my mission goes deeper than theYCW and actually predates it by about ten years. At my heart, I’m a writer. I wrote four novels between the ages of 12 and 16, and in college I decided to take my gift of writing public when I founded theYCW. I desired theYCW wasn’t just a blog but a platform for other women to use to share their gifts as well.

After nine or ten years of this though, I realized that I was spending so much time doing administrative work on theYCW: publishing articles without thorough editing, scheduling them out, fielding queries, creating social media posts, responding to emails, and so on. The main reason I’ve transitioned theYCW into a shop is to go back to that main mission and pursue that gift the Lord has given me: writing.

Only now, I intend to write novels. My current manuscript is with a publisher, and I can’t tell you how desperate I am to get this book into your hands. Imagine everything I’ve ever learned about the spiritual journey in my twenties compiled into one historical-fiction novel. I’m revisiting that passion in earnest and pray that I can once again dive deep into creating literature that Catholic women don’t just want but need. When we go to Barnes and Noble, we see shelves upon shelves of Amish romances or super cheesy romances whose plots are always sacrificed in some overly-biblical way. I want to break this mold and write stories for real Catholic women, full of life in all its gritty glory, deep passion, and heartbreaking events.

But to do that, I have to dial it back in some places. Yes, I still write the occasional article when I can or when I feel moved to, but please know that I haven’t abandoned this mission at all—it just looks drastically different now.

So the shop? It’s a total JOY—and it’s deeply serving my family, my capital V vocation, and I believe it still serves at least part of the mission of theYCW, in “guiding theYCW on her spiritual journey.” I understand that it may all seem so unnecessary now—the products, the items we sell, but so true were the articles not necessary when it came to grower closer to Christ, and honestly, thank God.

I’m so grateful none of us need any of what I offer, but I pray that it all does serve to help. I’m very passionate about sourcing unique and beautiful Catholic products and offering them at a reasonable price point. I’m constantly thinking of my twenty-something year old self living out what I called “the triple whammy”—I was living in a city ($$$), working for the Church (-$$$), and had a ton of student debt (-$$$$$$$), meaning I remember clearly trying to be frugal while admiring those beautiful Catholic pieces that were out of my budget. I also deeply remember wondering when someone was going to sell Catholic products that weren’t designed in the early 1990s, or produce apparel that didn’t leave you feeling like a walking billboard representing the Vatican (talk about feeling unequipped).

So anyway, I hope that’s thorough enough for you all to understand where I’m coming from and why theYCW looks very different than it did when we first started out. And clearly the Lord continues to bless this work, because I have seen so, so many fruits this past year and I am so incredibly and deeply grateful to each and every one of you.

xoxo Carolyn