The Commons · Rooted › Know

Writing your who we are description

You've already done the deep reflection in your DMV. This is where you distill it: the 2-3 sentences that go on your website, your Google listing, and your social bios.

ILift
IIIsolate
IIIDraft
IVTest
Auto-saving as you go
Before you begin

Have your completed DMV voice guide summary open beside you. You're not starting from a blank page here. Everything you need is already in that document. This workbook helps you compress it into the few sentences a stranger reads first.

Part I

Lift from your DMV

Read through your voice guide summary and pull out the raw material. Don't write anything new yet. Just locate what's already there and bring it here.

1Who you are

From your voice guide: how does it describe your tradition, your worship, the basic facts of who you are? Pull the plainest, truest version.

2What your DMV surfaced as distinctive

This is the important one. Your DMV reflection almost certainly surfaced something specific and true about your church that you hadn't put into words before. Find it and bring it here.

3Who you're for

From your voice guide: who did you name as the people you serve well? Not everyone. The specific people who feel at home with you.

Part II

Isolate your distinctive thread

A description has room for one strong, specific thing. Not five. The work here is choosing what to lead with.

"Every church says it's welcoming. Yours has to say something only your church could say."

Look back at what you lifted in Part I, especially the distinctive piece. If a stranger could only know one true thing about your church before deciding whether to visit, what would serve them best? That's your thread. It might be your music. Your neighborhood roots. The specific people who find a home with you. The way your worship actually feels. One thing, stated plainly.

Your distinctive thread Write it as one plain sentence. This becomes the heart of your description.
Part III

Draft your description

Now compress. Build 2-3 sentences that lead with your distinctive thread and fold in who you are and who you're for. Pull directly from Parts I and II.

Example "St. Andrew's is an Episcopal church in the Riverside neighborhood of Columbus, known for choral music that has shaped our worship for over a century. We follow the Book of Common Prayer and celebrate communion every Sunday. We draw families, longtime Anglicans, and people finding their way back to faith after time away."
Part IV

The stranger test

Read your draft as someone who found you on Google last Tuesday and has never set foot in a church like yours. Check each box only if it's genuinely true.

It says something only your church could say. Not generic warmth, a specific true thing.
A stranger would know whether this church might be a fit for them.
It avoids denominational vocabulary a newcomer wouldn't know.
It's honest, describing what is, not what you hope to become.
It sounds like your DMV voice. A person wrote it, not a committee.