The Office of General Minister and President welcomes your news and ideas for use in Disciples News Service (DNS). The news portion of DNS is distributed by Communication Ministries, a part of the General Minister and President’s office. DNS is distributed via e-mail every other Wednesday, or as needed, to those who register free-of-charge for the service.
1. Communication Ministries (CM) is interested in news that highlights the vision, mission and priorities of the church. We are most interested in stories that illustrate ways your church or community is helping to create "a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world." Communication Ministries prefers to receive news that is:
- Timely
- Of interest to the average Disciples reader
- Unusual, exciting or new
- Shows human interest
- Illustrates progress on a specific issue
2. Items that are carried on the DNS web site (http://www.disciples.org/dns) are not full press releases. Instead stories are brief summaries, which typically link to a website for more complete information. If you have a website, the full story or full press release should be posted on that site, prior to its submission to Communication Ministries. This will allow us to link to your site for the complete text. Hosting the news on your site also will bring additional readers to your site.
If you do not have a website, we encourage you to submit a completed story to CM. We will then assist in posting it for you on the Disciples website.
Communication Ministries does write a limited number of stories. If you are unable to provide your own news, but have a significant event that you would like covered, please let us know.
3. News items for the Wednesday distribution can be submitted at any time, however we prefer to receive news of upcoming events at least two weeks prior to the activity. Items MUST be received no later than Monday at noon on the week DNS will be distributed to be considered for inclusion.
Any items not received before the submission deadline will be considered for the next DNS distribution. Occasionally, Communication Ministries may opt to use submitted news items exclusively on the www.disciples.org web site instead of the DNS email newsletter. All news should be sent to: news@cm.disciples.org
4. Communication Ministries maintains the right to edit, revise or update information that is submitted to us. We work hard to maintain the integrity of written copy, and as often as possible, will provide some review for those submitting items.
5. Communication Ministries is interested in both "hard" news and feature stories. Hard news is usually breaking news that is aired or published immediately. Because the news format of DNS will typically be distributed only twice a month, our definition of hard news may include such things as updates on the effects of a major church fire, or a summary of actions taken by such entities as the General Assembly or General Board.
Feature stories are generally of a "lighter" nature, with information that is not time-sensitive. Examples of feature stories include such examples as telling the story of youth who are collecting clothing for hurricane victims or an item about a church installing impressive stained glass panels.
6. Remember that a wide range of people read DNS. Our readers include clergy, lay persons, regional and general ministry staff and ecumenical partners around the United States and Canada. In addition, DNS is picked up by several wire services and reaches readers around the globe. Because of the wide reach of DNS, we ask that your news and information be of interest to the larger Disciples and ecumenical audience, not just to your local community or church.
7. We welcome all story ideas as well, and as mentioned, will do our best to cover selected items, if such assistance is needed. However we require that you include a contact name and phone number on all submissions, as well as an e-mail address.
8. Above all, we encourage you to send us your news and information and hope that you enjoy Disciples News Service in its many formats.