A Second Appraisal
Three years after taking over editorship of the magazine, I decided to make an appraisal of the work up to that date. Three more years have now gone by and I guess it's time to step back and take stock once more.
Firstly, my rôle would be far more difficult without the
assistance of Barbara Hothersall and Phil & Chris Hoban. Over the years the
editorial committee has
reduced
a little— but it's quality that counts! Repeated appeals for others to
step forward (even to step forward again) have fallen on stony ground. As I've
said before: there's nothing onerous about the job at all. Why not consider
giving it a try?
Looking back I can pick out several series of articles— some more successful than others. The longest-running, of course, is the (fairly) regular Introducing... in which we feature various members of the congregation. Other projects nose-dived pretty quickly, often due to inertia. You can feel you're being a thorough nuisance after reminding someone for the third or fourth time that copy date is looming large!
From the outset one of the main aims was to convince you that it is your magazine, and without your contributions we couldn't offer such a comprehensive product. Many people have taken this to heart and we've been very encouraged by the on-going response to the appeal for one-liners as much as for longer articles. If we aren't able to use immediately what is given to us, we always try to use it later. However, we have to be aware of copyright. Sometimes a verse, for example, which catches one's eye in a book or magazine can't automatically be used in our mag. If you have supplied us with something and it hasn't been used, this could well be the reason.
Advertisements in the magazine? Well, we manage to keep this up around five pages. However, if all the enquiries and half promises we receive actually became reality we would, in fact, have double that quantity! We are very appreciative of the fact that most of our advertisers come to us via yourselves— and in this connection I must mention Ron & Stuart Black: they have brought us in more advertising than anyone. Truth to tell, on the advertising front we could well do with someone who would make it their sole task to look after that side of the magazine's business.
There's still a healthy response to my appeal for copies of other people's magazines: churches local to us; churches farther off that you might have been visiting; churches far, far way. It's interesting to study other people's approach and there is always something useful to be learnt. Some recent examples have come from as far away as Singapore and New Zealand.
If you have some bright idea that we might be able to use, please don't be backward at coming forward.
To the question, Does anyone else read our magazine?
I
can tell you that copies go regularly to a number of other churches and
individuals in the Preston area— and sometimes well beyond. Nowadays more
people are picking us up on the internet too (we know for certain that it's read
in Ghana!), and it's quite surprising who contacts us to ask if they too can
use
a certain article or poem which has appeared in The Fulwood Methodist.
When you visit another church, do you take along a copy / copies of our mag— either to hand to someone officially, or simply to leave on a table? People always seem to be very pleased when I do, even though sometimes they may be a bit taken aback by the idea!
