Three meetings that publish regular newsletters shared how they put their updates together. One prints and mails copies. Another sends a PDF after formatting the pages. Another writes a weekly email. The formats differ. Each one gathers information from worship, business, committee work, and parts of Quaker faith in one place.
Horsham Meeting
Alan Folsom at Horsham Meeting shared about the printed newsletter he assembles each month. Earlier versions were mimeographed, and he continued the work when he took responsibility for producing it. His role includes setting the layout, gathering content, and preparing copies for people who receive it in print.
“When I started doing it, I looked at what they had before and I thought, well, I’ll just continue it,” Alan said.
“Basically it’s the minutes, and then I look for something either interesting or inspirational.” The format stays consistent. The structure includes “the monthly query,” minutes from the previous month, “a quote on the left side of the second page,” and calendar items on the back.
“Some people don’t do computers,” he said. He prints copies for them and sends some “around the country” to people who want to stay connected. One person told him, “This is one of the best things we have going for us. I look forward to it every month.”
He uses Apple Pages to design the newsletter. “I take the previous month’s issue and delete what has passed and insert the new stuff.” He also handles the manual work: “I do the folding, the stapling, the labeling, the mailing.”
For meetings beginning a newsletter, he advised, “Get a format and stick with it… it’s got to become a routine… something people expect.”
Hockessin Meeting
Beth Parker Miller at Hockessin Meeting shared about the newsletter she formats and distributes with a group of people from her meeting. Earlier versions existed before she took on the role, produced by a member who moved away. She and another member began working on it together, and she now cares for the layout while others handle printing and mailing.
“When I started attending the meeting, a member who’s no longer there… used to do a newsletter,” Beth said. “It was a different format… probably generated like as a plain Word document… and I feel like it was mailed.” She said she has been working on the current version “maybe close to 10 years.”
Content includes minutes summaries, queries, committee updates, program information, photos, and occasional poetry or images from members. For items outside the meeting, she includes PYM information when relevant and sometimes pulls from the quarterly meeting. She tries to include spiritual pieces when she has them and may look to Faith and Practice when needed.
Hockessin Meeting offers both mailed and emailed versions. “We realized we could reach people… with the PDF version,” Beth said, and they give people the choice. Some receive both. The meeting budgets for printing “as part of our administrative costs,” and she said there has been “a lot of affirmation of yes, we like to have it.”
The work is shared across a small group. “We don’t meet, but we have what we call a newsletter team,” she said. One person pulls together “the queries, the birthdays, the monthly budget information.” Beth formats the document. Others proofread. Others print, fold, and mail the newsletters. The group maintains contact information across multiple lists.
She uses Publisher and reuses the previous month’s file. “I use the newsletter from the month before as my template and then I replace information.”
The printed version is 11×17, folded, and professionally printed. She said they do this because “there seemed to be enough of an appreciation commitment to doing it that we’re going to do that.”
On adivising meetings beginning their own, she said, “Make it relevant… encourage participation so it’s not all one person.” She said a group helps, even informally: “We don’t meet, but we have what we call a newsletter team.”
Crosswicks Meeting
Laura Bond at Crosswicks Meeting shared about the weekly update she writes and emails to the meeting. She drafts and sends it herself. She formats it in Gmail and keeps information organized in Google Drive.
She said the weekly update follows a familiar pattern. “We always start with an opening paragraph. ‘Hope you had a great week… how great was it for the temperatures to plummet 20 degrees after the heat wave.’” When something urgent arises, “If there’s a critical announcement… we put it at the top.” On regular weeks, information begins with meeting details. She includes “good news,” committee updates, plans for fellowship, and “calls to action.”
Content comes from members who send items directly, and she gathers additional information from Bucks Quarter, Burlington Quarter, Coalition for Peace Action, and PYM. She said this is intentional: “That’s really been helpful because being connected to other meetings is one of our goals.”
Laura sends the update later in the week, often Thursday or Friday. “I craft it in Google email,” she said. Length changes based on what is happening. When there is more to share, she includes it, and when it stretches longer she writes a note saying readers can take their time with it.
On advising for meetings beginning their own, she said, “Start simple.” She suggested beginning with “a simple… weekly update maybe or a monthly overview.” She said understanding what the meeting needs is part of the work, and added that people will respond and offer feedback over time.
Friends who produce newsletters and mailing type minutes into documents, gather dates from members, and organize pages for these publications. Others send files to print or prepare email lists so updates reach people on time. Friends who participate in this work show care to their meetings; thank you for staying with the task and holding it with Spirit.
