Worship Words submission guidelines

Worship Words invites submissions for both corporate worship and individual devotional use.

Submission form IMG_0908

Submissions to Worship Words should be:

  1. Inclusive:  avoid gender-exclusive language and imagery for people and God, e.g. “man” or “mankind” for people and “King,” “Father,” “Lord” and “He” for God.

  2. Thoughtful:  attend to word-craft, selecting each word and phrase with purpose.  Avoid cliché and unreflective usage of familiar phrases.

  3. Progressive:  respect the breadth and depth of religious experience within Christianity and across other religious traditions and spiritual expressions.  Relevant words from other religions which are seen to benefit and enhance the faith journey and expression of Christians will be considered.  Avoid upholding Christian ideas and concepts as “The Only Way.”

  4. Relevant:  Lectionary- or theme-based or responding to current events
    1. Lectionary-based: reference book and verse, and the relevant week and year (A, B or C) of the Common Revised Lectionary.
    2. Current events:  When responding to current events, i.e. a natural or human disaster, please submit the item in a timely manner and note the focus in the subject of your email.
    3. Theme-based: suggest a theme/topic or special worship event, e.g. hope, baptism.

  5. Accessible:
    1. Language:  If an item is written in a language other than English, include an English translation, as both versions will be posted.
    2. Vocabulary and colloquial phraseology: Worship Words will attempt to keep entries close to the original word usage, except when non-inclusive language appears or when clarification is needed for understanding.  Authors will be notified of suggested changes before the entry is posted.
    3. Length: length will vary as per relevance and appropriateness for the item’s place in worship

  6. Faithful: present an authentic representation of your faith

Right of refusal:  Worship Words has the right to refuse submissions based on any of the above guidelines or from a sense of inappropriateness or irrelevance determined by the Editor.

Timeliness:  The Editor will strive to post all accepted submissions in a timely matter.  Sometimes this might be on the day a submission is received.  Other times it may be a few weeks hence.  Thank you for your patience.  The author will be notified when an item is posted.

Editing:  Submissions sent to Worship Words are assumed to be intended for publication and may be subject to editing.

Copyright:  Items published on Worship Words are not copyrighted by the website.

Submission form