WRITER GUIDELINES FOR THE CHARACTER COUNCIL WEBSITE 5-Minute Study or Presentation for Groups, Classes, Meetings Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky December 2, 2001, Rev. Jan 1, 2005 Introduction to the Faith Community Portion of the Website The general purpose of the Faith Community division of the website for the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (www.charactercincinnati.org) is to assist individuals, parents, faith leaders, teachers, and others in encouraging the practice of the monthly character qualities in accord with the national schedule of monthly qualities published by the International Association of Character Cities. The organization of the content of the Faith Community division of the website includes a general section and separate sections for Christian, Jewish, and Other Faiths. Included in the Christian section (and hopefully in Jewish and Other later) is a subsection concerning character in general, as well as a subsection for each of the 49 character qualities. Each of the character qualities include Character Helps, References, Sermons, and other materials pertaining to that specific character quality--including materials specifically designed to help congregations and schools committed to being a "Church of Character" (or Synagogue or Temple) or "Faith-Based School Of Character." These latter materials include, for example, monthly newsletters introducing the character quality, 4-minute sermons and sermon outlines, announcements illustrating the character quality through testimony, bulletin inserts, and 5-minute studies for groups, classes, and meetings. These materials provide suggestions and ideas, and can be downloaded if desired for modification or direct use. **If you are interested in submitting an article for publication with Character Council or writing monthly articles, please review the Writer Guidelines below and contact Michael Lyons, Editor of Faith Outreach, at s1211349@cedarville.edu Writer Guidelines for 5-Minute Study or Presentation for Groups, Classes, Meetings Purpose: The purpose of the 5-minute study or presentation is to encourage teachers and leaders of each religious or business group, class or meeting to encourage the monthly character quality through explicit personal challenge. The purpose aims to cover three distinct classes of study: 1) the study may be available for individual use; 2) the study may be available for a discipleship/small group to interact with; 3) the study may be available for presentation by a leader at meetings. Goals of 5-Minute Study or Presentation: The goals for the 5-minute study or presentation are to: Heighten awareness and understanding of the character quality by briefly reviewing the definition and optionally the 5 "I will" statements whose practice helps form the habits of the quality. (To access the 5 "I will" statements, click on the link listed under point 5.) Motivate practice of the character quality from Scripture. (e.g. Christian examples - please God, promote intimacy with Jesus Christ, invest in something valuable [practicing good character qualities] both in this life and the life to come.) Encourage each participant to review silently or in a small group applications of the actions or "I will" statements in his/her life with God, asking God for wisdom in how they apply, asking God's forgiveness for failures to practice in the past, and asking God's strength to practice them in the future. Conclude the silent time by encouraging each participant to recommit to trying to practice the character quality regularly. Audience: The expected audience is adults and students (grades 7 and higher) in urban, suburban and rural communities. Prepare the study keeping in mind the three possible audiences: 1) an individual study; 2) a discipleship/group study; 3) a presentation for meetings. Develop the study in a way that individuals can interact, questions for small groups, and an ability to read through for presenting before a meeting. Do not assume your audience has a strong background in the Bible. Do not use "in house" terminology understood only by informed church attendees, if possible (e.g. "at the foot of the cross", "cleansed by His blood"). Provide enough information to help people understand your message. Keep in mind your audience may not be familiar with all the major Bible stories and characters. Be aware that "ye, thou" and other language from the 1600's can unnecessarily create a sense of distance for the contemporary listener, and form a possible conclusion in their mind that these truths are archaic, irrelevant in today's culture, and therefore irrelevant to their own lives. Please consider replacing those verses in your articles with renditions from other versions of the Bible which are true to the wording of the original text, but expressed in contemporary English.   Length of Text: Please limit the text for the 5-minute presentation/study to 700 words maximum (for a presenter to read through) - including instructions for the silent or group review time to allow at least 1-minute for reflection. Convention for definition of character qualities: Please be consistent with the definitions in the Pocket Guide to Good Character published by the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Click here for a link to definitions of each character quality and their corresponding "I will" statements. Heading: Please include a heading on your document having the following form: [Character Quality]- A Five-Minute Study Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Contributed by [Name of contributing author] [Position and affiliation, City, State] [Date submitted or created] *** Example BENEVOLENCE - A Five-Minute Study Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Contributed by Margaret Garner Senior Associate, Worldwide Discipleship Association, Fayetteville, GA March 27, 2001   Preparation before Writing: Good writing that glorifies God takes hard work. Pray earnestly for God's hand in your writing. Seek His counsel before beginning a new piece of writing. Submission of Text: Please submit the announcement in text form. Specifically, please submit it in a document created by Microsoft Word, if at all possible. Further, we request that you use: Times Roman, 12-point font. 1 inch margins (sides, top and bottom) Indentation: None. Single space. Double space between paragraphs. No Hard Returns, except to end a paragraph. Let the program automatically wrap words to the next line. Use underline, bold and/or italic text sparingly (for necessary emphasis only). Use the tab key for any indentation or tabbing, not the space bar. Please mark all verse citations as following: (Matt 5:44 NIV*). Use the asterisk if all the following verse references will be with the same version. If so, do not include the version in later citations. Notice: All documents are subject to editing at the editor's discretion. Please submit the document as an attachment to an e-mail message to Editor at s1211349@cedarville.edu. Schedule: The target date for submitting the contributed document is two months before the beginning of the month in which the character quality is to be featured as the character quality of the month. This gives time to get it onto the website and make it available to interested parties at least 6 weeks before the month of implementation 2005 Annual Schedule of Character Qualities - Target Date for Submission January Orderliness November 1 February Forgiveness December 1 March Sincerity January 1 April Virtue February 1 May Honor March 1 June Justice April1 July Gentleness May 1 August Faith June1 September Responsibility July 1 October Patience August 1 November Initiative September 1 December Self-Control October 1 Assistance and Ideas: Please feel welcome to contact Charlie Lyons at any time with any ideas or questions you have and for any assistance with preparing and submitting your documents. Michael Lyons, Editor of Faith Outreach 251 N. Main St #4556 Cedarville, OH 45314 Telephone: 937-766-3357 Email: s1211349@cedarville.edu Thank you very much for your contributions! We believe your investment will have multiple returns both in our community and beyond! This material is published by the Faith Committee of the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Reproduction and Adaptation is encouraged.