Crucible publishes three types of material, all of which cover the breadth of Christian life and thought.
The Cauldron
Formal articles in areas such as theology, Biblical studies, history, pastoral theology, missisology, philosophy and related disciplines. These papers follow the usual scholarly conventions and make a contribution to Christian scholarship.
The Test-tube
Ministry resources related to the life, ministry and mission of the church. This includes various creative, literary forms and educational material as utilized in theological education including lectures with application to a wider audience, discussions of current issues in church life and Christian thought, analyses of trends, sermons, poems, reviews, updates on controversies, notes on specific issues etc. This material will be reviewed according to its ability to make a contribution to the life of the church.
The Filter
Crucible publishes timely reviews of important new books in biblical studies, theology, ministry, church history and Christian thinking. There are also overviews of key books in particular fields designed to assist those in ministry in those areas to better comprehend the approaches and resources that are available. Finally we publish reviews of ‘hidden gems’, that is, books which are particularly appreciated, but which may not be very well known and yet are valuable resources.
Publishing Ethos
Crucible seeks to promote evangelical scholarship and publishes material which enhances the life, ministry and mission of the church. The Editors retain the right to publish material which contributes to the aims of the journal but reasonable liberty in the exposition and critique of the Christian faith is allowed. Articles reflect the opinion of the authors and reviewers and do not necessarily represent those of the Editors, the Board or the Sponsoring Organisations.
Submission Guidelines
General Guidelines
- Originality: all work should be original (except as indicated by appropriate citation) and should not have been previously published. However, where material has been published in a related but different form or has had limited distribution it may be published in Cruicible, at the discretion of the editors. Citation: authors should follow the end-noting and bibliographic conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style (humanities option). A summary of this can be found at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
- Style: Authors are encouraged to follow the style in previously published Crucible articles. English text font is Arial. Font sizes should be as follows: Title: 12 bold; Name: 10 bold; Location: 9 italics; Article text: 10 with 1.5 spacing; Article footnotes: 8 with single spacing.
- Other languages: Except for brief quotations from other languages, the body of all papers should be in English. The use of copyrighted material: authors are responsible for obtaining and paying for the use of all copyrighted materials and any reproduction charges. Copyright convention requires that the original author's permission be obtained where more than 300 words of text is quoted. Copyright convention also applies to drawings, photographs etc which are the work of authors other than the contributor.
- Editorial rights: The editors reserve the right to reject, include, or re-format material as necessary.
Submission: Articles should be submitted via the Crucible web-site, preferably as MSWord or rtf files.
The Cauldron – peer reviewed articles
- Articles will not normally be longer than 8,000 words including footnotes. Writers are encouraged to be briefer than that, however, wherever possible.
- Articles will be ‘blind’ peer-reviewed by at least two people. Reviewers may choose to remain anonymous.
- The article should be attached in a file (preferably MSWord or rtf) and should include:
- Title
- A short abstract (this may not be relevant for some ministry resources)
- The article or ministry resource
- but should not include the author’s name
The Test-tube – ministry resources
- Purpose: The Test-Tube Section of Crucible exists to provide a forum for the sharing of tools, resources, innovations, insights and new ideas amongst individuals and communities participating in the practice of Christian ministry.
- Contributions: Contributions are invited from anyone who thinks they have something to share, which has been of significant help to them or tells the story of their journey forward in ministry. It is our expectation that contributions to this section will be
- practical - applied to the practice of Christian ministry;
- creative - will not necessarily conform to the usual constraints imposed by literary 'conventions'; and
- may fit one of a number of genres - poetry, sermons, descriptive prose, "how-to" resources etc.
The Filter - book reviews
- Reviews may vary in length. Writers wishing to review books should consult the Book review editor first. Publishers with books should contact the book review editor.
- Reviews should be placed in a file with the relevant details, at the start:
- Author Name, Title: subtitle (City: Publisher, Date) ISBN XXXXXXXXX, Paperback/hardback (as relevant), No. of pages, Subject index (etc, as relevant).
- Reviewed by Reviewer Name, Reviewer Ministry Title and Institution (as relevant)
- Please include details carefully as they usually cannot be confirmed by the editor when the reviewer has the book.