The Communications Committee has recommended and Consistory has approved changes to the definition and nature of the Hope Church newsletter, to accomplish a number of objectives:
- To broaden the variety of communications available to Hope Church members, reflecting the varieties of activities and seasons of our life together.
- To increase the predictability for readers about what kinds of things can be found where.
- To balance resources across both print and electronic media (while keeping people without technology access fully connected).
Beginning with this current summer issue, we will be making the Hope Church News more “magazine-like,” publishing on a seasonal schedule (fall kick-off, Advent, Season of Reconciliation, Lent, and Summer) instead of monthly (with a two-month summer issue). The vision is to have a more thoughtful/thought-provoking publication, encouraging reflection. Recent content from Caring for Creation and Congregational Care and Health and the Poetry Corner exemplify the direction we propose.
We will be making additional changes to ensure the same information currently published in the newsletter is still available (and note that much is already published concurrently elsewhere):
- We’ll produce the monthly calendar (including At Home with the Word and upcoming birthdays) and make it available electronically and as printed copies in the Gathering Area.
- We’ll institute a weekly bulletin announcement email, containing those sections of the bulletin.
- We’ll make the mailed-printed-bulletin service, currently available by special request, a genuine opt-in program for those who aren’t present each week and don’t have technology access. If you would like to opt in to receiving the bulletin mailed to you each week, please sign up in the gathering area!