In this section we offer some insights into the ways in which church publications have been created and have evolved over the years, based on various real-life examples.
If you would like to add to these case studies, we would love to feature more – especially if you have a different experience to offer, or a significantly different approach to help illustrate.
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As with many church publications, The Parish Link started off as a very basic newsletter, prepared and typed by a small committed band of church members from across the three churches – with typewriter, correcting fluid and a photocopier as fundamental tools. Gradually the size of the publication grew so that hand-stapling became an added requirement – no modest task, for over 1250 copies! The format was based on folded and stapled A4 sheets providing a portrait A5 booklet of approximately 12 pages. Ten monthly editions of the magazine were produced each year, with July-August and December-January as the two combined editions.
As part of the original vision, the newsletter was always intended to be free-of-charge to all readers. Therefore, to help fund the newsletter, advertising from local traders was incorporated from an early stage.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the magazine became a very welcome and familiar part of the local community: indeed, it became the primary vehicle for communicating local community matters of all kinds, from church services and events (Anglican and Methodist), to school notices, local village events, parish council minutes, personal announcements and private sales.
Key ingredients in its success during this time included:
- A professionally experienced editor who gave her time freely as a church member, and who provided consistency, continuity and high editorial standards over nearly a decade
- A small committed team of local correspondents who gathered material (copy) relevant to each of the three villages
- A substantial team of willing volunteer deliverers for each of the three villages (approximately 24 people in total).
As time passed, an increasing number of the delivery team members were drawn from the local community, many of whom were not church members. As a consequence, part of the original vision for doorstep mission was lost. However, “The Link” was by now such an established and familiar part of the local community that it has continued to prosper as an essential vehicle of communication and reference.
During the late 1990s and first few years of the current century, various editors brought their own modest changes and tweaks to the publication, and steered a “steady as she goes” course, but with particular emphasis on editorial accuracy. For many years a series of pen-and-ink line drawings, produced by a local artist, graced the cover of the magazine and these were rotated from month to month. By this stage, of course, computer-based word processing was the primary means of compiling the magazine, and the final copy was sent by email (as an MS Word document) to a high street print-and-copy shop, which incorporated the commercial advertising (created on an Apple Mac) and printed 1500 copies with automated stapling and folding. The magazine was 18 pages in length.
In 2005 a new editor volunteered his services and, using desktop publishing techniques, brought about some radical changes to the overall appearance of the magazine. These changes were mainly to increase considerably its graphical content, so that photographs and cartoons provided visual balance to the previous text-dense publication. Photographs of local events proved to be very popular with readers, and to accommodate increasing numbers of these, the magazine is now 26 pages long. It is designed and created with DTP software and published as a single pdf file, from which the same high street print-and-copy shop outputs the final publication.
As part of the visual overhaul, the line drawings used for many years on the cover were dropped in favour of a new photograph each month, reflecting a local scene or village event. (The loss of the line drawings was not universally welcomed, but few would question the much more contemporary look that the magazine now projects).
The magazine celebrated its 250th edition (25 years) in September 2007.
Website: The current editor was also keen to create a complementary website, to extend the reach of the magazine both in terms of content as well as potential geographical reach (see: www.parishlink.org). Although the hit rate is modest, the website has certainly been welcomed by those keen to see village events published in colour (the magazine is printed in B&W only, with greyscale images). It has also generated correspondence from former residents of the three villages, speared across the UK and internationally.
In terms of medium term succession planning it will be necessary to ensure that other members of the editorial team (or at least other persons within the three churches) have skills in desktop publishing and website design. Otherwise, a change in editor at some point in the future may well result in The Parish Link reverting to the simpler visual format of previous times, and the possible demise of the website.
Case Study 1: ParishLink
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BUILDING A TEAM
YOUR PURPOSE?
FUNDING
PRINTING
DISTRIBUTION
A WEBSITE TOO?
GENERATING COPY
BUILDING A TEAM
YOUR PURPOSE?
FUNDING
PRINTING
DISTRIBUTION
A WEBSITE TOO?
GENERATING COPY
Nature of publication: A church-based community magazine in rural South Bedfordshire
Principle Aim: The main aim of ParishLink is to provide a service to the community by being a ubiquitous medium of local communication – news, events and a celebration of village life across the benefice. Produced by members of three village Christian communities, it is also intended to provide a contemporary Christian perspective and engage the wider community in matters of faith.
Its Development: The Parish Link was conceived in 1982 as a benefice-wide church magazine, serving three villages in rural Bedfordshire. A primary vision was to hand-deliver the publication to every home across the three parishes. In so doing, Christians would be able to engage with local residents and enjoy direct interactions on the door step.
CASE STUDIES