by Phil Andrews
If you are reading this, then I would guess the answer is probably “yes”. But it may be that you are just randomly perusing, rather than being a regular reader? Or possibly you just skim through those articles or items which happen to catch your eye?
On the other hand you may be an avid consumer of all the wit and wisdom which issues forth from these pages on a monthly basis, always to be found at the front of an orderly queue in the vestibule on the last Sunday morning of each month, eager to catch the latest edition hot off the presses?
In either event, it is unlikely that many will have given much thought to the process which goes into writing and preparing said item for publication.
All the latest developments
Information is collated from the Pulpit Secretary, the Flower Secretary and the deacons in order to fully populate the Diary. One deacon will put together between 300-500 words for the Deacons’ Page, updating readers on all the latest developments within the Church. Any articles which may have been submitted (and please feel free to send us yours!) are included in the mix, and a front page designed. It is important that the total number of pages adds up to an even number, to avoid blanks, so if they don’t a “filler” will need to be added – either a “guest” article lifted from elsewhere or a wordsearch, a quiz or suchlike. Then, all the originals are run off on somebody’s home printer and brought to the Church where the finished product can be fed through the printing press before the pages are stapled together. Generally all this happens within a week or so.
Essential information
We are proud of our newsletter. Many churches, some of them a lot larger than ours, don’t bother to produce one. For us it is a means of conveying useful knowledge and information to members of our congregation, as well as sharing perspectives on scripture.
All the essential information that appears in the newsletter will also get posted onto the Church website, where it will be seen by a wide range of people from beyond the congregation – sometimes in the most distant and exotic of places. Our new A5 community newsletter, hand-delivered to 1,000 dwellings in the neighbourhood, completes the “family” of published material through which we are able to communicate with each other, and with the outside world.
We may be a little church, but we want all our members and visitors to be informed as much as is possible. That is the essence of Congregationalism. Please support the newsletter as much as you can.