Parish magazines still alive and well at heart of community

HOW interesting to read the article (Yorkshire Post, January 27) about the demise of church magazines.

In our small village of Shepley, near Huddersfield (pop. c2000), our earliest recorded parish church magazine, called Home Words, was published in January 1874 and cost 1d per copy. In those days going to church or Sunday School was very popular, and a large proportion of the village supported church activities. The vicar was a very powerful local character.

In the April 1875 magazine, a new church school room had been opened and there was a shortfall on the funding.

The magazine reported that at the opening ceremony the vicar’s remarks included: “There are some of us who are straining every point to raise the money, but others who can afford to help who stand aloof on poor excuses and are reluctant to part with their money; to them I say do not forget ‘a shroud has no pockets’.”

By 1970, Shepley had to share a magazine with several other neighbouring parishes but even then demand was so small that the publication ceased.

As there still needed to be village communication, a brand new village magazine was started.

A free first copy was delivered to every house in the village and in the follow up, an annual subscription was obtained from 750 homes.

The monthly magazine has a few pages of current affairs, contributions from local councillors, the Member of Parliament, local school and village organisations and a letter bag.

Every month the local vicar, Methodist minister or Catholic priest has their opportunity to deliver their church messages, along with several pages of details of church events and activities.

The publication is completed with a recipe, a log book of village events and occasionally a quiz. In total, a modern version of the original parish magazine idea.

Today, some 900 copies are delivered every month to over 90 per cent of the village; the cost is only £7 a year; and supported by local traders’ advertising, the magazine is still in good financial order after nearly 44 years of service. Ironically, the local web page has little use. Awareness of village activities generates support which results in active and healthy local organisations and stimulates community life – long live the magazine in Shepley!

From: Val Middleton, Judy Allen, Brenda Sheard, Bolton Priory Parish Magazine Editorial Team.

WE refer to your recent article, “Churches ringing in the new as parish mags fold”.

We are astonished by the views of the Rev GP Taylor from Scarborough who “welcomes” the decline of the parish magazine. He seems to have thrown in the towel, or red pen, very easily.

Just as Mr Taylor has found a market for his printed novels, so we, at Bolton Priory, continue to find a demand for our printed magazine, the first edition of which was published in 1884. We are still going strong, with a 500 monthly print run delivered free of charge to every household in the parish. We also have a well-used postal subscriber service and are able to cover all our costs through advertisements.

We are proud of our presence on Facebook, and we are currently developing a new website which will enable us to publish the magazine electronically; but we are also proud to continue our tradition of publishing a printed magazine, now in its 130th year. Like most newspapers, and novelists, we have found that “both and” is better than “either or”.