EFCA Today Editorial Guidelines for www.efcatoday.org
Publication purpose: to unify church leaders around the overall mission of the EFCA by bringing its stories and vision to life, and to sharpen those leaders by generating conversations over topics pertinent to faith and life in this 21st century. Its readers are EFCA leaders: pastors, elders, Sunday-school teachers, ministry volunteers.
Publication history: EFCA Today magazine first launched in 1931 as The Evangelical Beacon. Since then, its name and format have been re-envisioned as needed, to better serve the Evangelical Free Church of America movement. In 2010, it moved to an entirely digital expression at www.efcatoday.org. Rather than publishing 20 stories into leaders’ hands each quarter, EFCA Today is publishing powerful pieces of new content every week, right to the desktops of its ministry leaders: articles, images, polls, videos, resources and stories.
DEPARTMENTS
EFCA Today departments include:
- “Engage” — out of the church and into the world
- "Leader to Leader” — what leaders are saying, doing, learning
- “Catalyst” — the passion of EFCA’s young leaders
- “Face to Face” — a look at our global family
Please review past print and digital issues to become familiar with the departments and their contents.
Freelance article submissions: Articles to be considered for our departments should run between 300 and 600 words. Preference is given to story ideas that include shorter primary articles plus sidebars of related information. Indicate if photos are available, but do not mail or e-mail photos with initial submission. Include contacts for verification of article (address/phone/e-mail of subject; address/phone/e-mail/church name of subject’s pastor).
Photography submissions accepted for the “Face to Face” department.
COVER THEMES
One portion of each EFCA Today is devoted to a topic designed to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and leadership growth, and to highlight how EFCA leaders are already involved in living out that theme. Examples of themes are: new paradigms for “doing church,” church planting and rural/small-town churches. These articles differ from those in the above departments, in that their primary focus is on the issue rather than the person; the person serves to illustrate the issue.
Cover-theme articles should run between 300 and 800 words. Include contacts for verification of article.
SPECIFICATIONS
Electronic submission: E-mail to editor@efca.org (we work in a Mac environment, using Microsoft Word). Postal submission: Mail to EFCA Today magazine, 418 Fourth Street NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Manuscripts without a self-addressed, stamped envelope and sufficient postage will not receive a response.
Questions may be directed to the editor.
PAYMENT
Payment is 23 cents a word for first rights, including limited subsidiary rights (free use within an EFCA context). Reprint payments vary. Payment is made upon acceptance — final edit of the article.