Soft Launch January 1, 2023
We started a branding process that began in 2019. Some things, like the logo, have already been rolled out. Starting January 1, 2023, we will change how we refer to regions and countries.
The Five “S” language (Sun, Sand, Silk, Spice, and Sea to Sea) served a specific purpose for a time. Many of our church lobbies or prayer boards may proudly still display it—that’s ok! We aren’t going to force churches to stop using it—but after January 1, we’ll start changing how we refer to regions and places.
Mostly, the branding was unclear and brought more confusion than clarity. Whenever we had conversations—even with internal staff—we had to clarify what we meant. For example, the Silk Road region didn’t include historical countries associated with the silk road. But the Five “S” language has also rightly received criticism for oversimplifying regions and people.
Our national communication will use new language to describe countries and regions. Don’t worry—you won’t need to learn new alliterations or memorize new Alliance jargon.
We’ll use language that almost any English speaker already knows whether or not they go to an Alliance church: the United Nations geoscheme. For example, we’ll start calling Europe, Europe. Or Asia, Asia. The Sea-to-Sea region will be called Canada. If it is safe to refer to a country, we’ll use that country’s English name. If it’s a region, we’ll refer to it with a similar naming scheme to that the United Nations uses, such as Latin America to describe Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
This change will be gradual, but you’ll start seeing it on January 1.
You can see the full branding guidelines here.