🖊️ Writing style
The way we write things is important, especially when we’re talking to an audience who may not be familiar with the Church or Christian language.
Be understood
Use everyday language
It’s always better to be understood the first time. Don’t use terms people might be unfamiliar with. Words like “Eucharist” and “Communion” might be commonplace to you, but to someone who has never attended Church before they are a huge barrier to understanding what is going on.
There are times where it’s important to use more precise terms, but before doing so you should consider your audience.
Yes: The bread and wine will be blessed.
No: The elements of the Eucharist will be consecrated.
The Plain English Campaign have a range of excellent free guides which can help you in creating clear, accessible writing.
Consider your audience
The Church interacts with a wide range of people every day, from those who attend several services in a week through to those who have never set foot in a church before. What we say must always aim to be accessible and inclusive, so it is important to consider who you are writing for.
After writing something, try reading it whilst imagining you have the level of understanding of the people you are communicating with. If it doesn’t make sense, you should probably re-write it. If you find this difficult, you could find a friend or family member and ask them to read it and tell you if it is understandable.
If you need somebody else to proof read something, ask the Comms Team.
Be accessible
Making content accessible for as many people as possible can be tricky, but it’s an important part of making people feel included.
Accessibility takes many forms, including making sure the content is appropriate to the audience and that the content is delivered in a suitable way.
For more help and ideas, or if you would like an accessibility audit for something you are producing, get in touch with the Communications Team.
Be inclusive
You should do your best to avoid language which isn’t fully inclusive. Pay particular attention to gender1, and to verbs which may not apply to everyone.
Yes: When the president has finished they will return to the altar.
No: When the president has finished he will return to the altar.
Yes: Members of the congregation will process to the War Memorial.
No: Members of the congregation will walk to the War Memorial.
Be professional
You should be professional in what you say and how you interact – in particular, make sure what you are saying aligns with our values. Remember that you are not representing yourself, but instead, you are representing the Church.
Being professional is not the same as appearing clever – always aim to be understood the first time.
Be friendly
When writing on behalf of the Church, especially in a conversation such as by email or chat, you should always try to be friendly in tone. Use the kind of language you know your audience uses.
Being friendly is not the same as not being strict or enforcing the rules – if somebody is being unreasonable or abusive you must always be professional, but you are not expected to give in to demands or put up with abuse just to appear friendly. If you need advice on this, contact the Communications Team.
A note about text chat
Increasingly, we are interacting with people using real-time text chat. Whilst this is a great channel to reach people, it can be intimidating if you’re not used to communicating in that way.
Don’t try to be either overly familiar or overly formal – think of a text chat as though it were a telephone conversation. If you wouldn’t say it on the phone, you probably shouldn’t say it in a chat.
Similarly, don’t fall back to using ‘text-speak’ or similar. It’s very possible to be friendly whilst still using proper spelling and capitalisation.
Don’t be afraid to sprinkle a few emojis into a conversation if you know how to and it feels appropriate.
Safeguarding
At no point must “be friendly” come before either your safety or the safety of others, as explained in more detail in our safeguarding policy. If you are uncomfortable with a conversation, have any questions or are concerned about someone’s safety, stop and seek advice.
If you believe someone is at immediate risk of harm and you can’t contact the safeguarding officer, you should inform the police by dialling 999.
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We consider the singular usage of “they/them/their” to be absolutely fine where someone’s gender is unknown. ↩