Synod has a little style

Group 236

by Karen Krueger

Have you heard of a Style Guide? It aids consistency when projecting ourselves through communications in the big, wide world. I want to be sure you know about three style-ish matters.

1508littlestyle

Do you show style when you punctuate our synod’s name?

1)     Lots of room for variation in how you name our synod, but actually only two are correct.

Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod
or
Metro D.C. Synod

Those dots and commas are prone to move around, but the forms here listed are the two proper ways to refer to our synod.

2)     I’ve heard some congregations want a clean-looking graphic to use in official reference to the synod. Copying and pasting can lead to some fuzzy images out there! I will include a Graphics Catalog with these images at the end of the message.

We ALSO have templates to help your congregation depict itself with consistency across the ELCA.

1508brandmarkcong

If you’d like a template to help you shape your congregation’s name in the ELCA brandmark, contact me or Katharyn Wheeler.

The ELCA brandmark comes with distinct guidelines for correct usage. Refer to “Brandmark Quick Reference Guide” at www.elca.org/Resources/ELCA-Branding.  (NOTE: The ELCA brandmark in Spanish and other tools are also found on this resource page.)

3)     There are MANY valuable tips in the ELCA Style Guide that come up in day-to-day church work. For example:

  • Should I capitalize gospel/Gospel?
  • Do we call him the Rev. Bishop Richard Graham? Why not?
  • If I spell out LCMS, where does the dash go?
  • And much, much more.

Updated last fall, find the ELCA Style Guide (direct link to pdf file) on the ELCA branding information page.

If the communications office of the synod can be of additional assistance, let me know at kkrueger@metrodcelca.org.

GRAPHICS CATALOG – ELCA Brandmark for 8G (Metro D.C. Synod)