Publishing a Parish Newsletter
Episcopal News Service. April 20, 1977 [77135]
The Rev. G. Edward Bowden, Grace Episcopal Church, Linden, N.J.
The publication of a monthly newsletter is not as difficult as it may appear on the surface. Two or three people can adequately handle the entire project from start to finish.
The first thing that must be decided is the reason for its existence. In the case of Grace Church our purpose is to promote better communication within the parish, and to make it as newsy and as informative as possible. We do this by using material we feel will appeal to everyone from the children to our senior citizens.
We also feel that the newsletter, along with imparting general information, can be used as a vehicle for our parish family to share the daily events of their lives with their fellow parishioners; hence our monthly column "Did You Know" gathered and written by a church member -- which could be called a "gossip column" for the want of a better name.
Our sources for material are many and varied. Most of it originates from within our own parish. Each month our rector writes a lead article for the front page that deals with any subject he feels would be appropriate at the time. The senior warden reports on the business conducted at the previous vestry meeting as well as other articles that have pertained to stewardship, evangelism, parish elections, etc. The presidents of the E.C.W. and Altar Guild report on their meetings. In fact all parishioners are encouraged to contribute. All articles are subject to the approval of the rector.
The following are features that we endeavor to use on a monthly basis. We take snapshots (black and white reproduce the best; color pictures are used only as a last resort) of our wardens and vestry-men, and run a short biography under the heading "Vestry Profiles." Under the caption "Golden Glimpses," we publish a childhood picture of a parishioner with identifying clues. For those persons unable to guess who it is, the answer appears elsewhere in the newsletter. We also run a small box item on Christian symbols with a picture of the symbol if possible along with an explanation of its origin and what it means; also a box entitled "Why Church?" in which we give a reason and explanation on why a person should attend church every Sunday.
A rotating prayer list is printed asking all members to pray for particular parishioners on certain days. A monthly church calender is published that indicates what is taking place in church each day. Sunday and weekly services are noted along with vestry meetings, choir practice, bowling, bus rides, church suppers, organizational meetings, and so forth.
Last, but far from least, we run a page devoted exclusively to the kids called "Children's Corner," where we have puzzles, coloring pictures and the like. The material we use was purchased at Woolworth's for a small charge. Two or three of these puzzle books contain enough material to last for months. The intent of the children's page is two-fold: (1) to get the youngsters interested so they will look forward to the newsletter each month and, hopefully, to get them in the habit of reading it, thereby increasing their interest in the church, and (2) to show them that we, as adults, are aware that they are an important part of our parish family.
We try to fill the remainder of the newsletter with church-oriented articles such as convocations, diocesan conventions, healing and special services scheduled at Episcopal churches in the area, the Episcopal Honor Society, the Bishop's Ball and visiting clergy. We have also published in two segments the history of St. Christopher's Indian Mission in Utah. Our Sunday School children help support the Mission with birthday contributions. The purpose of the article was to familiarize the children and the parents with the Mission and, at the same time, to inform them where the money was going and for what purpose it was being used. We have on hand an article called "The Story of Canterbury Cathedral" which we will publish shortly.
We have used material gathered from religious publications such as Share magazine, The Episcopalian, The Anglican Digest as well as local newspapers and periodicals. Anything we think would be of interest to our parish we try to publish if space permits. Dated material we use immediately while undated items are held for future use. The sources for material are endless, and, at times, we have had to run over eight pages which is the limit we try to maintain because of printing costs.
All copy submitted to the typesetter should be typed and double spaced for easy reading along with instructions as to the kind of type desired and the column width in which it should be set. When selecting a type, choose one that is easy to read (Sans Seriff if possible) and set large enough to make comfortable reading. We use 10 Point Universe for body copy and 11 Point Universe for heads.
In our parish, we are fortunate to have a couple who own a type-setting business and who donate this service, thereby saving us approximately $20 per page. The actual printing runs about $50 per month for 250 eight-page copies. If pictures are used and the printer has to alter the size, this runs an extra $5 per picture.
When preparing the pages for the printer we use regular 8 ½" x 11" white paper on which we have drawn two rectangular 3 ½" x 10" boxes. These boxes and all other markings are made by a light blue pencil. Blue is used because it is the only color that will not be picked up by the printer's camera. Most other colors would show up black on the finished product.
When we get the required number of layout sheets prepared, we paste down our copy with rubber cement, being sure to keep the type within the blue lines, thus assuring a clean, easy-to-read page. When all the pages are pasted up and numbered, they are taken to the printer who returns the finished newsletter 36 to 48 hours later. It is then folded, addressed and sent out. Most printers will include one fold in the cost. There is usually an additional charge for more than one fold.
In order to make the newsletter self-supporting, we carry advertisements on the top two thirds of the back page. This space will accommodate 32 one unit advertisements which we attempt to sell on a yearly basis, but will accept any number of insertions a merchant wishes to purchase. The bottom third of the page is used for the name and address, the return address and the post office number.
All parishioners are urged to support the newsletter by selling ads. We supply them with forms to use as contracts. Each unit is $5 per month payable in advance if possible. To encourage advanced payment we sell 12 insertions (one year) for a flat $50. To date it has worked very well, and we have been able to avoid billing. However, if a prospective advertiser insists on it, we'll accommodate him but he receives no cash discount.
The publishing of a parish newsletter takes a certain amount of effort and can be time consuming, but when the finished product arrives back from the printer the positives far outnumber the negatives, and you find yourself looking forward to starting on the next month's issue.