Parish Bulletins Remain Relevant in the Digital Age

Story by Shelley Wolf

Parishes within the archdiocese are always looking for better ways to engage parishioners. To meet parishioners’ information needs and grab their attention, two parishes recently overhauled their Sunday bulletins with fresh new designs, more graphics and photos, and enhanced content.

Blessed Michael McGivney Parish, which serves all Catholics in New Haven, unveiled its newly redesigned 20-page, four-color bulletin, printed by LPi, during Lent.

The front page includes a large parish logo with the letters “NH” and a golden cross. The interior, which sports colorful graphics and new fonts throughout, also provides information in three languages – English, Polish and Spanish – to reflect the languages spoken in its communities.

“New Haven is also unique in that we have many visitors from week to week, and many new parishioners who are moving to the city. And providing them with information in the bulletin is the fastest and easiest way to reach them,” the parish wrote in its bulletin survey results, published earlier this year.

Before rethinking the bulletin, the New Haven parish conducted a print and online survey to gauge its readers’ wants and needs. Survey respondents said the bulletin was “even more important” as a resource for parish information than the parish website, emails and social media.

Survey results also showed that 58% of respondents read only the printed version, 33% read both the printed and digital versions, and 10% read only the online version.

The top five types of information parishioners wanted included a weekly calendar of events, a list of ministries and descriptions, adult faith formation content, a list of staff and contact info, and a “get to know each other” section.

Now the newly redesigned bulletin opens with a list of clergy members and the names and addresses of its eight churches, followed by pages with contact information and Mass times.

To more broadly publicize activities, subsequent pages combine information from all of its worship sites, neatly organizing items under the subheadings of “Parish News & Upcoming Events,” “Parish Ministries,” “Parish Outreach,” “Parish Prayer, Study & Devotion,” “Faith Formation” and “Other Events.”

Likewise, St. Francis Parish in New Britain revamped its Sunday bulletin starting in January, taking an even more visual approach. The parish switched to publishing a longer 16-page, four-color bulletin every two weeks. The publication is now more photo-driven and is printed on glossy paper by LPi.

Each issue opens with a full-page of religious art or a local photo on the cover and the St. Francis Catholic logo, a white crucifix in a blue circle. The second page includes a table of contents for easy use, Mass schedule, church locations and mission statement.

In the later pages, parish leaders are identified with photos and contact information. The parish office location is demystified under a large heading, “Where to find our parish office.”

Also included are a reflection, upcoming parish events designed like ads, fun photos of past parish activities, QR codes that take readers to videos on the website, a table of ongoing ministry meetings, a checklist of items needed for the parish pantry, and puzzles for children.

The parish produced its first “A Year in Pictures” in January too, illustrating the major activities of the past year in a colorful, month-by-month photo layout.

To view the latest bulletin at Blessed Michael McGivney Parish, visit newhavencatholic.org/weekly-bulletin. To see the latest bulletin at St. Francis Parish, visit stfranciscatholic.org/bulletin.html.