Colon

a.     Use to introduce a list or draw attention to information that follows.

e.g. Education options missionary parents have in Japan include: public school, home school, and international school.

Use lowercase even when a complete sentence follows the colon.

Exception: When introducing a formal quotation, slogan, or motto, capitalize after the colon.

b.     Use to precede block quotations (which usually are introduced by full sentences).

In his book Cross-cultural Servanthood, Duane Elmer interviewed the local people where missionaries were serving:

I asked many of them one question: What could missionaries do to more effectively minister the gospel of Christ in your culture? Many said that they valued the missionary presence and love they felt from them. But many said, with hesitation but conviction, “Missionaries could more effectively minister the gospel of Christ if they did not think they were so superior to us” . . . Superiority cloaked in the desire to serve is still superiority. It’s not our words that count, but the perceptions of the local people who watch our lives and sense our attitudes.

c.     Use between numbers in time. (AmE only—see section on time)

d.     Use chapter and verse in Scripture references.

e.g. 3:15 p.m. (US) and Matthew 5:13.