Language

The moment you walk into a room, you are communicating a message. Writing an email, engaging in a conversation, designing a postcard, or posting on social media are all opportunities for you to be intentional with how you use your words.

As Catch The Fire ambassadors, you are encapsulating Catch The Fire’s brand essence, presence, encounter and transformation, in all the content you create and how you communicate.

Brand Language

Presence.
Encounter.
Transformation.
As a distilled definition and filter, our brand essence is a core group of words that you will hear a lot. They form the titles of our core values with additional meanings that define our culture. Use the three words in the specific order shown above. When writing or speaking, avoid abbreviating to PET.
Encounter God’s transforming presence.
Our tagline succinctly and clearly tells you what Catch The Fire is about. This memorable invitation helps your target audience feel more connected to who Catch The Fire is as a brand. Be intentional when using the tagline and where possible use it sparingly, so you don't overuse it and dilute the message.
Immerse, experience, pursue, empower and build are our brand values. Each of these powerful and carefully chosen words can be used to describe your journey of up (love for God), in (love for yourself) and out (love for others) in everything you communicate.
Encounter God with us.
There is always more.
You were born to carry God’s presence and lead people into encounters with God.
Together we can transform the world.
Our desire is to invite people into our brand story. It's an underpinning message that guides the audience into a life of presence, encounter and transformation. This is just a guide and has plenty of room for creative expression and varying outcomes.
Immerse
Encounter. Relationship. Love. Grace. Presence. Intimacy. Belong. Rest. Receive. Trust. Connection. Vulnerability. Humility. Home. Welcome. Lavish.
Experience
Freedom. Identity. Health. Uniqueness. Authenticity. Genuine. Integrity. Ownership. Transparency. Courage. Transformation. Love.
Pursue
Presence. Spirit. Supernatural. Power. Anointing. Truth. Spontaneity. Trinity. Revelation. Belief. Faith. Thrive. Diversity. Honour. Love.
Empower
Equip. Growth. Learn. Raising leaders. Equality. Excellence. Journey. Destiny. Joy. Fun. Passionate. Creative. Extravagance. Abundance. Story. Impartation. Love.
Build
Support. Accountability. Progression. Multiplication. Give. Generous. Action. Movement. Quality. Change. Advancing. Innovation. Direction. Teamwork. Friendship. Family. Community. Strategy. Faith. Love.

Writing Copy

When you are gathering copy (written content), start by identifying the response that you want from the reader. Make sure you have a clear understanding of your subject and your target audience. This will help you navigate tone, word choice, length and the balance between inspiration and information. It will also help you choose the appropriate communication channel.
Use a friendly, family oriented, informal tone. Be genuine and clear, with a sprinkle of passion and inspiration. Use humour where it's natural and appropriate.
Explore the keywords associated with our brand values. Use them and expand on them. Select words carefully with an awareness of their meanings. Avoid Christian jargon, slang, and overused words and phrases that may be confusing to a target audience who aren't familiar with church culture. Use positive language rather than negative language.
Think about which communication channel you are using and vary the length accordingly. Keep content brief; your target audience is more likely to engage with concise content. Once you write a piece, see how much you can eliminate without losing meaning.
When writing biographies, inspire first, then inform. Include a friendly, authentic and up-to-date photograph. Keep content brief and engaging; less is more. Avoid a list of attributes that aren’t applicable to the subject area. Give context to the person by adding their title but eliminate unnecessary extra titles. A biography’s purpose is to leave you feeling like you want to know more rather than feeling overwhelmed with too much information — a sound bite and not a resume.
When writing emails, know that your written voice is very important (see tone of voice section above). Every email you send or respond to represents you as a Catch The Fire Ambassador. Be professional, while still connecting relationally. Double check spelling, grammar and motive. We are a global brand with varying cultures so be aware that your communication may be received differently than you might assume.
Go to Brand Essentials: Email Signatures in the artciles section to fully see how to do an email signature.

Grammar

Diligently proofread to avoid any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Be aware of cultural differences when writing copy or translating languages. Attention to detail and taking extra time nurtures communication excellence that shows you really care.
DO - She said, “We’re going to the conference.”
DON’T- She said, “We’re going to the conference”.
DO - Only use one letter space after a full stop/period.
DON’T - Double space after a full stop/period.
DO - Call today!
DON’T - Call today!!!
DO - 9:15 am 7:00 pm 9:15-10:45 am 10:00 am-5:00 pm
DON’T - 9:15AM 7:00p.m. from 9:15 to 10:45am
When you use all-numeral date styles (eg. 11/02/2019), be aware that not all countries express dates in the same way. America uses month/day/year, the UK and Europe uses day/month/year and most of Asia use year/month/day. Canada uses all three!
DO - Monday, September 17 December 5 March 27-April 23
DON’T- Monday, September 10th December 5th Tuesday 27th March
DO - One, two, three, 10, 11, 12 two-week series three-year-olds 4th grade
DON’T - 1,2,3 Ten, eleven, twelve 2-week series three year olds Fourth grade
CATCH THE FIRE - When writing out the name Catch The Fire, all three words are capitalized. Avoid making the ‘t’ in ‘The’ lowercase and avoid abbreviating the name to CTF (ONLY abbreviate in website URLs, social media account names and hashtags). When vocalizing the name Catch The Fire, also avoid abbreviating to CTF.
Catch The Fire
SCHOOL OF MINISTRY - When writing out the name School of Ministry, the ‘o’ in ‘of’ is lowercase. Avoid abbreviating the name to SOM or SoM (ONLY abbreviate website URLs, social media account names and hashtags). When vocalizing the name School of Ministry, also avoid abbreviating to SOM. When required to identify a school’s location, add the location after the words School of Ministry.
School of Ministry
School of Ministry, Toronto
Catch The Fire School of Ministry
Catch The Fire School of Ministry, Toronto
CHURCH - The word ‘church’ is capitalized in the context of the name of a Catch The Fire Church. However, it is not capitalized when referring to the church as a noun or a verb.
Catch The Fire Church
Our church is thriving.
CHURCH LOCATIONS - Catch The Fire Churches should always be referred to as Catch The Fire Church. When you need to identify the church’s location, describe it as ‘Catch The Fire Church in [location].’
They are the leaders of Catch The Fire Church in Toronto.
She attends Catch The Fire Church in Manchester.
There are some exceptions:
There will be a conference at Catch The Fire Church, Raleigh-Durham.
I am going to visit Catch The Fire Church, Dallas-Fort Worth.
This is because Raleigh-Durham and Dallas-Fort Worth are not actual map locations, but descriptions of the area the church is located in.
LEADER'S TITLES - Capitalise ‘pastor’ or ‘leader’ when using in a person’s title. In a sentence, they do not need to be capitalized. It is helpful to give the leader context by including their title when you talk about them. If they have several titles, use the one most applicable to the subject area. When talking about a pastor, avoid placing the word pastor before their name, unless it is culturally necessary.
Senior Leaders, Duncan and Kate Smith
Duncan and Kate, the senior leaders of Catch The Fire Church, Raleigh-Durham
Steve and Sandra, the senior leaders of Catch The Fire Church in Toronto
GOD — Capitalize the names and pronouns for God. Don’t capitalize words associated with God or describing Him. When referring to God, present Him as trinitarian: heavenly Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Use lowercase for ‘presence’, ‘encounter’ and ‘transform’ unless in a headline or beginning a sentence.
When you’re writing about God, keep your language and grammar relational and friendly rather than religious and stuffy.
The Lord God Almighty
We are in His presence
In His glory
The Spirit of God
The Prince of peace
BIBLE - When referencing anything from the Bible, use quotation marks, following the quote with book, chapter, verse and abbreviated translation. Use the full book name rather than an abbreviation.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NIV)
The bible teaches us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Mark 12:30, NIV).
DO - Isaiah Luke Revelation
DON’T - Is. Lk. Rev.
Follow titlecase. Capitalize the first and last word, along with other major words in the title. Always capitalize the name Catch The Fire.
Pastors and Leaders all Over the World
Follow lowercase. Avoid hyphenating in a line break. Avoid using a period/full stop at the end of a URL when ending a sentence. When you don't use ‘www.’, be clear when referring to an online destination.
For more information online, go to ctfbournemouth.com

Resources

Capitalize My Title

Grammarly

If in doubt, we recommend using the AP guide for grammar and style.