Always send a test email, text or otherwise before scheduling or sending.
Use your blinker when it affects another team’s world in any way.
For anything you write, proofread.
Double-check: is your communication clear, direct and kind?
Keep it concise; the only words that make up a sentence are the necessary ones.
BE! STRATEGIC! WITH! YOUR! PUNCTUATION! Please.
Set The Table: our welcoming environments extend throughout email and text communication.
Our voice is our overall personality that defines our standard of internal and external communication.
OUR VOICE IS:
Accessible, but still truthful
Current, but not too trendy
Helpful, but not pushy
Our tone is the mood and attitude conveyed in our internal and external communication.
OUR TONE IS:
Fun, but not gimmicky
Cool, but not trying too hard
Honest, but not abrasive
PRIMARY
Dream Center Peoria
DCP STUDENTS
DCP CARES
DCP HOUSING
DCP MOBILE
SECONDARY
DCP
Dream Center Peoria Students
Dream Center Peoria Cares
Dream Center Peoria Housing
NOT USED
DC
Peoria Dream Center
Illinois Dream Center
Peoria Illinois Dream Center
Dream Center of Peoria
SPELLING
Afterward (no ‘s’ at the end)
Among (no ‘st’ at the end)
Amid (no ‘st’ at the end)
Judgment (no E)
Canceled (no double L)
GENERAL
Dream Center Peoria (capitalized)
Talk (not sermon, not message)
Guest (not resident, not client, not congregation)
Any reference to God should be capitalized (He, Him)
OUR EDITORIAL STYLE IS AP STYLE. THIS MEANS THAT ACROSS THE BOARD, DREAM CENTER PEORIA'S WRITING STYLE SHOULD BE EASY TO READ, CONCISE AND FREE OF BIAS, AS WELL AS ACCURATE, CLEAR AND NEUTRAL.
NUMBERS
Whole numbers below 10.
Example:
Nine
Numbers that begin a sentence.
Example:
Twelve people accepted Christ.
For large numbers use hyphen to connect word ending in y to another word.
Example:
Fifty-Five
ADDRESSES
Abbreviate words street, avenue and boulevard
ONLY after numbered address.
Example:
299 Cowan St.
Never abbreviate drive, highway, place, etc.
Example:
123 Perfect Place
Abbreviate compass directions in numbered address.
Example:
123 N Perfect Place
For second references, abbreviate all state names.
Example:
I lived in Peoria, IL.
Spell out Alaska and Hawaii and states with five or fewer letters.
Example:
I live in Iowa.
I live in FL.
TIME
Always use numbers without st, nd, rd or th in dates.
Example:
April 2, 1998 NOT April 2nd, 1998
When writing about events use months and dates.
Example:
April 30, June 5
When referring to a month, day and year, set off year with commas.
Example:
June 15, 1991, was the year I was born.
Abbreviate months when immediately preceding a date.
Example:
RIGHT: MISSION PEORIA is Jan. 5.
WRONG: MISSION PEORIA is in Jan.
Abbreviate only if month’s name is six letters or longer.
Example:
April 30, Oct. 5
When referring to a month, day and year, set off year with commas.
Example:
The most recent rethink poverty was in October last year. The time before that was in March of last year, and we canceled the one that was planned for Aug. 3.
Years are never spelled out.
Example:
2020 NOT Twenty-Twenty
Use figures except for noon and midnight.
Example:
4:30
List out times in uniform.
Example:
10:30 AM, 1:00 PM
List out times including the last AM or PM only.
Example:
Annual Gathering times are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM, and 1:00 and 5:30 PM.
Do not include periods in am and pm/AM or PM.
Example:
RIGHT: 1:30 PM
WRONG: 1:30 p.m.
Include a space between time and am or pm/AM or PM.
Example:
RIGHT: 9:00 AM
WRONG: 9:00am
TITLES
Do not capitalize “campus,” “team,” or second portion of positional title.
Example:
I’m the DCP students director on the youth team for the Peoria campus.
Robbie Criss, DCP Students Director, leads the DCP students.
PLACES
Capitalize names of U.S. regions.
Example:
We’re planning to head Southwest for that conference.
General compass directions should be lowercase.
Example:
Serve the City is looking for more projects south of Peoria.
Do not put a comma before a conjunction in a simple series.
Example:
John, Paul, George and Ringo; red, white and blue.
Place a comma before and after the following:
A year if it follows a month and date.
Example:
I was born on June 15, 1991, in High Point, NC.
Use a comma to set off a person’s hometown and age.
Example:
Ethan King, 21, is on the Creative team.
