Every now and then (like now) I run out of things to put on this page. The one before is pretty much taken care of with my wonderful weekly columnists, David, Justin and Paul. But when we have a holiday and everybody is otherwise occupied, they don’t have time to send off their church announcements and I get really hard up for news.
To top it off, the whole page is usually left ad-free, which means I have even more space to fill.
What do I do? I steal things from your newsletters and websites. Heh heh. sneaky little thing, huh?
I call it peeking into your windows and knocking on your doors … begging, if you will, for a “few morsels more.”
I sometimes find some good stuff, at the least a few briefs. But it also gives me a chance to peek into your church and see what’s going on. Many place names of their members who are in nursing homes or in the hospital — some I know, some I don’t — but I always wonder, when I see them week after week, how they are doing.
The December pastor’s blog from Fayette Presbyterian hit a subject that was of great concern to me and I was relieved to see it was written from a perspective that brought hope to my heart. I have lost a lot of respect for and faith in many people and some pastors this past year.
The kids’ pages are always good and I enjoy reading about upcoming mission trips and helpful outreach programs. I really like it when you send a full report and photos after the trip is completed. Rolling Hills Baptist is great about that.
That church has an unusual concept. They sold their church and property to use all monies for missions and now meet in a movie theater in Sharpsburg each Sunday. They do a lot, believe me.
And there is always the place in your newsletters where I find my little briefs about Bible studies and other groups, ladies’ doings and men’s get-togethers.
Newsletters — good ones — are not easy. A lot of thought goes into them. You need to think about content for your varied readers; they have to be attractive and catchy or no one will read them; and they have to be timely or everything is old news.
Yes, I know about newsletters. I have done a few in my day. Just join a club and let even a hint get out that you’re a writer and you’ve got the job.
Some of you who once had great newsletters do not have one any more. I sympathize with you. Good newsletter editors are hard to find. And some who have newsletters deny access to website browsers. You have to subscribe and get on their email list. Such a shame. I would have loved to have taken a peek inside some of the more active churches in Fayette County but their doors were closed.
As you can see from the ad on the right, I didn’t find quite enough to fill the page but I came close.
This is also a time when I take a minute to thank all of you who send me your church news articles each week. I don’t know what I would do without my regulars. Come Sunday night I can count on finding news stories, articles and photos from them in my little AOL mailbox.
At the risk of leaving someone out, I’d like to personally thank David Beecher of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran, Leslie Lunsford of Providence UMC, Joan Aycock of Fayetteville First UMC, Carolyn Gulick at Peachtree City Presbyterian, Peter Trebotte of Rolling Hills Baptist, Marilee Gardner of the Fayetteville LDS church, Patti Phillips of Woolsey Baptist, Jane Carter of All Saints Anglican, Ted and Sandy Thomas, at Word of God Lutheran, Elaine Pierce of Hopewell UMC, JoAnn Golston at Holly Grove AME, and many, many others who send their news to us.
We have come far and done great things in the past.
Let’s see what we can cook up for 2017.
