Newsletter Transition

If you do not already subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which goes out by email every Thursday, you are missing out. (Sign up here!) Even during the pandemic, when many of our ministries have changed shape, we have continued to offer new opportunities for formation, virtual fellowship, outreach, and contemplative practice. There is too much going on and too much adaptation within those programs for the staff and volunteer leaders to keep the parish informed without using a weekly newsletter format. One of the first changes we made after I arrived was to begin to emphasize the weekly newsletter as our primary means of communication.

But what about the monthly newsletter? As the weekly format has become more important, the focus of the monthly newsletter has shifted. At first, we continued to share the same information in both formats, but we quickly discovered that what we were sharing in the monthly format was out of date by the time it arrived. As a result, people needed to read two different publications in order to get the whole story, which meant that we were failing to get our message out effectively.

We began to transition away from time-specific, program-focused information in the monthly communication in order to feature longer narratives and deeper descriptions. In order to capture those, we moved from a monthly to bi-monthly format. Quickly, we discovered that the real value in having two formats is not to duplicate our efforts but to augment them. In order to most effectively tell our church’s story, we need one weekly communication that keeps the parish informed and another “slower” approach that allows you to engage the life of our parish more deeply.

Although this publication will be our last bi-monthly newsletter, we will replace it with a similar magazine-like publication that will be produced quarterly. Each issue will feature a different pillar of St. Paul’s Rule of Life—worship, prayer, growth, and service—and will share stories and insights from that area of our common life. With this format, we will be able to describe in more depth those ministries and programs that we love and give you the chance to read about them. Look for the first issue of that new publication in February.

From now on, if you want to know what is happening at St. Paul’s for the coming week, check out the weekly newsletter, which goes out every Thursday, or take a look at our updated website, where every item in the newsletter is also featured. We also share important announcements through social media and during worship on Sunday mornings. Most of you already receive the weekly newsletter. If not, you can sign up for it, or, if the church already has your email address, we will add you to that distribution list automatically.

We hope that you will also consider subscribing to the new quarterly publication by email as well. Every household that moves from print to electronic delivery saves the church money and lessens our overall impact on the environment. If you get the bi-monthly newsletter by email, you will continue to get the new publication the same way. If you get it in print, consider switching over. Either way, you receive the same format, same content, and same layout, but getting it electronically helps us shift that cost to other ministries.

As we take stock of and make improvements to our communication profile, I am very proud of our Communications Director, Megan Downey, who has taken the lead on these transitions. She worked tirelessly on revamping our website to make it more attractive and user-friendly. She streamlined our weekly newsletter to make it more effective. And she is guiding us in this change so that our church can do a better job of sharing our story—of communicating with the parish and the world what God is doing in and through St. Paul’s. She is part of an excellent staff team, and I am grateful for her and the other people with whom I work. I trust that you will continue to see the fruit of their ministries in the programs we offer and the publications that tell about them.

Yours Faithfully,

Evan