Guidelines for Authors

The World Council of Churches (WCC) produces an immense amount of written material – letters, documents (internal and external), statements, news releases, publications – as well as material for the WCC website and social media.

The bulk of this material is written or prepared in English. As with many other languages, there is no “standard” form of English that is universally used – even in the United Kingdom, where “British English” predominates, there are variations of spelling, rules about capitalization, punctuation, and so on, and where such variations may have equal validity.

The WCC also uses a wide range of theological and ecclesial terms, for which again there are sometimes variations in spelling and capitalization.

Style also evolves over time, so the purpose of a style guide is to ensure consistency in the range of written material that the WCC produces or commissions. It is also helpful if authors and contributors to WCC publications are aware of these guidelines.

This style guide is in two parts:

  • A quick guide summarizing the most important elements of WCC style.
  • A more detailed reference section setting out style used in the production of longer documents, and publications.