A Church VoiceTips, ideas, & resources for church Web sites and newsletters |
Issue #10: Just the NewsApril 15, 2001 - Easter Sunday http://www.AChurchVoice.com/
__.+._______________________________ From Barbara’s KeyboardA blessed Easter to you all! I'll be brief, since it's Easter, and we're probably all either really busy or quite ready for a rest. I definitely am, after gamely singing in the choir in two morning services, enjoying my kids with their Easter baskets, and doing other family things until I took a break to lay down with my head cold! As always, I invite you to pass along this ezine to a friend, colleague, church staff member, pastor, denominational resource person, or anyone else who would enjoy this newsletter. Thank you so much for your enjoyment and support of A Church Voice. I'm still contemplating ways to improve the ezine archive for A Church Voice at the Web site On to the abbreviated Easter issue: a look at getting news into newsletters. For lots more tips and ideas, head to the online archive blessings,
__.+._______________________________ You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it. Thank you! I will n e v e r share your name or your email address with anyone else. If you need to unsubscribe, you'll find that information at the end of the newsletter. __.+._______________________________ C o n t e n t sFeature: Newsletters Need News __.+._______________________________ Feature: Newsletters Need NewsDo you get the feeling that the information in your church newsletter is a pale reflection of what's really happening in your church community? Perhaps just one person writes almost everything for the newsletter, and may be missing some areas of activity or need. Or you hear about an event after it's taken place. Or the announcements you see in the Sunday service bulletin or announcements in the Sunday services include things that never landed in your in box to go into the newsletter. What can you do? First, recognize and cultivate your main sources for information. The most easily identifiable are the staff and volunteers who head the ministries and activities. Contact those organizers, lay out both the ease and the benefit to them of using the newsletter to communicate with the church members, and, finally, give them a quick summary of when and how to get information to you so it gets into the newsletter. See the newsletter tip in Issue #9, "How to Contribute," for an overview of what to provide your contributors. Also, all of your readers are potential contributors, since every reader can be touched by and/or involved in a ministry, activity, or event. The best sources for written tips and announcements are sometimes lay people rather than the head organizers -- involved lay people who might have the time or writing skill an organizer might lack. Ask the main contacts for their recommendations of people who will be accurate and reliable sources of information for that ministry, activity, or event for the newsletter. Then contact those people and invite them to support their activity or ministry by providing material for the newsletter. Again, give them a quick summary of how to get the information in for the newsletter. It helps, also, to keep your eye on the parish calendar about four months in advance, sometimes longer. When a bazaar is scheduled, or vacation church school, or a seasonal ministry or activity, take note right away and find out who to contact for more information. Lay the groundwork while they are doing the initial organizing, to help them think of the newsletter from the very beginning. Step into action when you first learn that a staff member will be leaving or a new position has been created; a ministry is revamped; a new Sunday school curriculum is adopted; special services are scheduled; or just about anything else happens in the life of the church. The church or parish newsletter can be very much like a community newspaper, with everyone reading it for the latest on what's going on in the parish. Whether or not you can find people in each ministry or activity to write for publication, you can still broaden the view found in the newsletter. Lay the groundwork, keep your eye on the calendar and your ear open for news, and you'll start to see the breadth of activity in the church community reflected in the pages of its newsletter. __.+._______________________________ AdsExplore and enjoy your faith with your kids! __.+.__ ChurchSite: Resources for WebMasters __.+._______________________________ Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia! __.+._______________________________ If you find this information of value, please pass the newsletter on in its entirety. Your comments and suggestions are welcome! If you’d like to submit a tip, question, or Web site, send me an email at cveditor@laufers.com For more resources, visit http://www.AChurchVoice.com/ See you in two weeks! __.+._______________________________ To subscribe, churchvoice-subscribe@topica.com
To submit a tip, question, or Web site, cvsubmit@laufers.com
__.+._______________________________ Copyright © 2001-2002 Barbara Laufersweiler.
__.+.__________________________.+.__
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