As
the publisher of Catholic Church bulletins the question that I am most often
asked by pastors is. Where do you see the
Sunday bulletin going in the future?
My
first reaction is don’t you mean to ask. What
do you see in the future for parish communication?
The
Internet. Having an up-to-date website is fast becoming the most effective way
to reach all your parishioners. No question about it. Total access 24 hours, 7
days a week. If a person is looking for information, church information, they
will Google it or look for it on your website.
That
doesn’t mean that your Sunday bulletin is obsolete. What it does mean is the
bulletin is fast becoming the brochure to your website. The bulletin is a
short, quick informative blast of information.
Bulletin
editors are becoming savvy. They can spend more time writing bold headlines,
editing redundant copy and adding visuals that engage readers. In part because
bulletin services offer custom services that save editors time. No longer do
editors have to manipulate copy and photos to fit on a page. Time is a
commodity. They can write and send. Although not all bulletin services offer
custom bulletins. Some regional bulletin services do.
Still
most parish ministries think the Sunday bulletin is the most effect means of
parish communication. Truth is that the Sunday bulletin and pulpit
announcements may only reach one third of all the families in a parish on any
given weekend. So how can ministries effectively reach their congregations?
Repeat the bulletin article, insert a flyer or another pulpit announcement and
use the Internet.
One
of my favorite Monsignors would reply to such requests with “ you can start
Mass late but you must finish on time.”
Accommodating
every parish ministry request for pulpit announcements can add more than a few
minutes to the pulpit announcements and most pastors tend to refrain from a
multitude of announcements before and after Mass. The alternatives are clearly the
bulletin and parish website.
The
bulletin announcement or bulletin insert is the next obvious choice. Most
submissions can turn into a short novelette rather than the announcement of a
coming week activity. Often writers are not educated in copy writing and submit
long and repetitive entries leaving the bulletin editor hours of unwanted
revision, often subjecting themselves to a writer’s scorn for editorial
privilege. The bulletin should
have a singular purpose of highlighting all the activities pertaining to the
following week. A short synopsis of succinct copy, art and strong, attention
grabbing headlines will better serve any parish activity. Any more explanation
of a ministry other than basic information (who, what, where and how) can and should
be re-directed to the parish website.
As
we entered into the age of information (the
creation of the web 22 years old this past February 16) the opportunity to
provide vast amounts of information about the many ministries is essential for
a thriving parish community. Web-editors are becoming as important as the
bulletin editor (most are one and the
same). Parish administrators are becoming more aware of the advantage of
having an up-to-date comprehensive website. Not only can ministries write pages
of information they can send a viewer to links providing more insight to a
subject. Most recently mobile devices have entered the picture.
Our
way of communicating has changed the bulletin from a sole source of information
to a point of reference for the website. Integrating and keeping continuity
between the bulletin and the website is the new challenge. Pastors and parish
administrators wanting to know more about custom bulletin service and website
service should visit www.bartlebypress.com
under menu item website services.
About the
Author: Thomas
Miner is the president of Bartleby Press, a Texas based bulletin publishing
service
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