Why implement a style guide?

Among the many responsibilities the EFCA has to its members, leaders and onlookers, we, as a movement, have a responsibility to our various audiences to be structured and well-grounded in our communication — both internal and external.

The quality, consistency and professionalism of correspondence/materials distributed by EFCA ministries and personnel have a powerful influence. They shape the perception that a watching world has toward the credibility of the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Producing high-quality materials is part of glorifying and serving God in all that we do. This style guide, prepared by the EFCA Communications team, is not comprehensive; grammar rules seem to be infinite. Its purpose is to provide a reference and offer guidelines for writing and style for EFCA ministry communications. The EFCA style guide is based on the Associated Press Stylebook, and topics not specifically addressed in this guide should align with AP Style. The information presented in this document addresses frequently asked questions and common areas of inconsistency. On the following pages, examples are preceded by a bullet (•).

Also available: “EFCA Brand Identity Guide” — necessary for implementing brand and design standards in all forms of communication. Both the Editorial Style Guide and the Brand Identity Guide can be accessed at www.efca.org/brand.

Work at the EFCA?

Readers deserve clear and helpful content. We created this guide to provide EFCA employees with the style, structure and process for creating the best content across our ministries and channels.

If you plan to write and create for the EFCA, please use this as a reference. This is our company style guide. It helps us write clear and consistent content across teams and channels.

This guide goes beyond basic grammar and style points. It’s not traditional in format or content. We break a number of grammar rules for clarity, practicality or preference.

We’ve divided the guide by topic so you can reference it as needed or browse in order. For specific inquiries, a search function is also available in the top left corner of the page.

Don’t work at the EFCA?

We invite you to use and adapt this style guide as you see fit. It’s completely public and available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Please credit MailChimp.