Theological Publishing

LectionAid Sytle Sheet
Sermon Mall Style Sheet

We have guidelines for submitting to our publications. Please find some of the guides we give to our writers.

These are posted as help and a way to review your writing before submission.

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LECTIONAID STYLE SHEET

1. Please send everything in 12-pt Times New Roman font, one-inch margins all around, single-spaced, no spacing between paragraphs, no indents but hard returns after paragraphs. In that format, illuminations should be between 1¾ and 2¼ pages long.

2. Send your illuminations/illustrations for your assigned week in one Word document. If you’re doing more than one week, they may be sent together or separately. However, if you have additional illustrations for Sundays other than your assigned week, please send those in a separate Word document and mark the date above the illustration or series of illustrations.

3. Put your initials in parenthesis after each illustration, one space after the final period. There is no period after your initials. For example: …teach the love of God.

4. Make sure that your endnotes are in the correct format and have all of the information needed, with the period outside of the parenthesis. This is true for illuminations as well as illustrations if you’re quoting from a book, or closely paraphrasing:
(James Luther Mays, Amos [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969]), pg. 2)

On the other hand, this is acceptable for small quotes:

“The time is always right to do the right thing.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

However, in the case of attributing sources, it is always best to give too much than not enough. Therefore, whenever possible, provide the complete publication information. If you have failed to provide us with enough, we will send the quote back to you for complete info. It is your job to give credit to the source and at the same time protect yourself and LectionAid with accurate information.

5. No direct quotes over 50 words!!! Sometimes these quotes have been embedded in illustrations or illuminations, and sometimes they’ve been submitted as an illustration. We can’t publish them. Please use word count to make sure you are under the 50-word limit, and modify your quotes accordingly. Please note we can not publish an entire poem or hymn even though it is less than 50 words.

LECTIONAID CONTENT SHEET

One concern that we have is that the “voices” of the writers span a variety of styles. We don’t have to be 100% conformed, but there needs to be more unity in what our audience reads. Therefore, please look these new guidelines over and work within them.

Audience:
· Clergy and lay pastors…people who have preached these texts several times as well as those seeing it for the first time.
· This is probably the only or one of few commentaries he/she looks at each week.

Illuminations: (would what you write help you preach the text?)
· Begin with something that will catch the reader’s attention—an illustration, a fact about your theme or text, etc. Draw the reader into your illumination. Keep it conversational vs. formal. We want to get the pastor tuned in and excited about preaching this text.
· Think about what a pastor would need to know to preach this text on Sunday. We do not do detailed exegetical work for them, but we set the scene of the text—not “here are the 10 important Greek words from this passage,” but “here’s the context where these words are spoken.” Even if you’re familiar with the context and have preached this passage numerous times, our audience is made up of clergy and lay pastors who may be unfamiliar with the context.
· Practical application is important. What are some suggests you have for preaching this text? We’re not writing a sermon outline, but we’re highlighting ways that these passages apply to 21st-century America. Again help the preacher keep the congregation’s attention.

Illustrations: (would you use these in your own sermons?)
· Please submit between 8-10 illustrations for your week(s). You also may submit as many illustrations as you wish for other weeks.
· As you write illustrations, consider whether or not you would put the story in your own sermon. Does it relate to the theme or is it a stretch?
· Again, practical application: personal experience, news or magazine articles, books, etc.
· Please do not give a list of “one-line quotes” from the Internet or books. Either expand on why that quote is relevant or use it as one part of a longer illustration.

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SERMON MALL STYLE SHEET

Please send everything in 12-pt Times New Roman font or Arial, single-spaced, no spacing between paragraphs, no indents but hard returns after paragraphs.

Make sure that your endnotes are in the correct format and have all of the information needed, with the period outside of the parenthesis. (James Luther Mays, Amos [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969]), pg. 2)

On the other hand, this is acceptable for small quotes:

“The time is always right to do the right thing.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

No direct quotes over 50 words!!! Sometimes these quotes have been embedded as illustrations etc We can’t publish them. Please use word count to make sure you are under the 50-word limit, and modify your quotes accordingly. Please note we can not publish an entire poem or hymn even though it is less than 50 words.

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LECTIONARY HOMILETICS STYLE SHEET

Please note that there are pdf files

Lectionary Homiletics Exegesis

Lectionary Homiletics Theological Themes

Lectionary Homiletics Pastoral Implications

Lectionary Homiletics Lesson and the Arts

Lectionary Homiletics Sermon Reviews

Lectionary Homiletics Preaching the Lesson

If you are interested in writing the column called Scripture and Screen or the Sermon for the Week please use our request form.