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You are in: General Assembly > Reports to the 1998 General Assembly > Communication and Editorial

Committee Members

Convener: Mr Christopher Wright, Secretary: Mrs Carol Rogers

Revd David Coleman, Mrs Pat Stannard, Revd Peter Moth, Ms Kirsty Thorpe, Mr John East, Mr Richard Lathaen, Revd Michael Forster, Revd Paul Brewerton and Revd Roger Hall

1.1 The Publications Board meets regularly to advise on all matters relating to publications of the General Assembly and its committees. The Board, which reports to the Communications and Editorial Committee oversees all matters relating to publishing.

1.2 In addition to the annual publication of the Year Book, the Diary and the Prayer Handbook, nine new titles were published in 1997. Two of these Let’s Discover the URC, the pack for schools launched at General Assembly 1997 and A Choice of Hymns, a thematic index to Rejoice and Sing, are now reprinting. Of the others Reign Dance, Setting Up Signs and Getting to Know You have been particularly well received.

1.3 The titles planned for 1998 include Under God’s Good Hand - a history of the Reformed Tradition by David Cornick, Table Talk - looking at the Communion Table from the outside by Donald Hilton, a new series of booklets on training for the Ministry of the United Reformed Church, and some updated versions and new titles in the They’ve asked me to be series. The long awaited Companion to Rejoice and Sing is to be published by Canterbury Press and should be available in time for the meeting of General Assembly.

1.4 As in previous years sales of the URC Diary and Year Book have been high. However, the sales of the Prayer Handbook seem to be declining and the editorial and planning group have been asked to address this.

1.5 The URC Catalogue for 1997/8 has been sent to all ministers including those of the Scottish Congregational Church and to local church secretaries. For the first time a trade catalogue has been produced jointly with the Methodist Publishing House and trade orders are mainly dealt with from their distribution centre in Peterborough.

2.1 The year has seen further minor improvements to the format of Reform and the reactions of readers continue to be overwhelmingly positive. After the balancing out of losses and gains, subscriptions at the time of renewals for the year 1998 were at almost precisely the same level as at the same period in 1997 despite a small rise in price. This continues - for another year at least - the stabilisation of circulation after the downward trend of the previous few years.

2.2 One of the highlights of the year was the successful pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine undertaken in November. The event was oversubscribed and those who shared in the experience have been unstinting in their appreciation.

2.3 Focus is being placed this year on promotions, with particular attention to ensuring that those coming into membership of the Church for the first time are encouraged to take up a subscription to Reform as an effective means of keeping themselves informed on the life and witness of the United Reformed Church. The Committee is intensely aware, however, that by far the most important influences on circulation are the degree of diligence exercised by ministers, elders and distributors at the local level. It remains difficult, otherwise, to account for the wide variations in levels of subscriptions between churches of similar size and ethos.

3.1 The bookshop continues to provide material for Provincial Days, Synods and other special events. In 1997 the bookshop at the Assembly of the Scottish Congregational Church at St Andrews was provided by the United Reformed Church, and was very well received.

3.2 The discount scheme for Ministers and Students, now extended to Ministers of the Scottish Congregational Church, continues to be well used. Again the variety of titles requested continues to be of interest, and often presents the staff with challenges to trace titles from a minimum of information.

3.3 The number of titles stocked grows regularly as new sources of material are found. As the bookshop specialises in resources for worship and preaching these areas are constantly growing. However, the sections on pastoral care and theology have also expanded recently. The freewill offering sequi envelope scheme continues to be operated in conjunction with John Thomlinson and Sons of Glasgow. During 1997 several new items bearing a United Reformed Church logo were added to the range of church requisites available. These include pens and pencils, notepads and, as requested at the last Assembly, a Baptismal Register will be added to the catalogue in time for Assembly.

3.4 The bookshop and offices are due to be relocated within United Reformed Church House in May.

3.5 The target of turning all orders round in 48 hours or less is being met on most occasions.

3.6 The bookshop and distribution operations are run with a minimum of staff. The customers are asked to take this into account and co-operate with the ‘cash with order’ system which can be operated without extra personnel.

4.1 As new equipment is introduced so expectations and requirements for material continue to rise. Items printed in-house now regularly include colour work whilst larger items and books sent to outside printers are of a consistently high standard.

5.1 The Press and Media Office continues to offer support and advice to individuals and churches who are, or feel they might soon become, the subject of media attention - whether welcome or unwelcome.

5.2 The decisions taken by the 1997 Assembly with regard to the debate on human sexuality have raised the profile of the Church on this issue and the effects of that increased attention continue to be felt. Considerable effort has been devoted at times to defusing or correcting over-sensationalised reports. As always with such work it is the failures which are noticed but they disguise a greater number of reports which were either considerably improved in accuracy or, in some cases, withdrawn when the inaccurate assumptions on which they were based were challenged.

5.3 Sadly the attention drawn to the Church in this one area has not altered the overall judgement of those who control the national media that the affairs and statements of a relatively small and cumbersomely-named organisation such as the United Reformed Church do not merit report to a wider audience.

6.1 The Information Service continues to be despatched to all church secretaries at regular intervals. A personal subscription is available at a modest cost. All retired ministers are offered a free information pack. The United Reformed Church is indebted to the volunteers who collate and pack the Information Service.

7.1 The number of loans of videos has risen over the past year. A list of videos is available on request.

8.1 The number of local congregations now participating in the URC/Christian Copyright Licensing Scheme has enabled a discount of 20% to be given. The CCL Scheme for an additional licence to cover the copying of music is scheduled to begin in April 1998. As yet, not all music publishers have consented to join the scheme, but all churches currently participating in the current URC/CCL scheme will be sent detailed information by CCL.

9.1 The United Reformed Church will again be at the Christian Resources Exhibitions both in Esher and in Birmingham. This year the theme will be based on Textures of Tomorrow. Whether the Church will continue to be present at future exhibitions is under discussion.

10.1 A 48 hour consultation entitled ‘Local Churches and the Media’ was held at Swanwick, in February 1998. Those participating took part in workshops on Local Broadcasting (led by James Rand), Writing for the Media (led by Jean Sylvan-Evans), Media Awareness (led by Claire Laland of the Media Awareness Project) and Information Technology (led by David Lawrence). There were also open sessions led by Mike Sassi, the Deputy Editor of the Derby Evening Telegraph, Carolyn Oldershaw, a freelance reporter with BBC Radio Leicester and a United Reformed Church member, and Rob Ellis of the Churches Advertising Network. It is hoped to organise similar events in the future and the Secretary would be glad to receive names of any interested in participating.

11.1 CACLB

The Revd Peter Moth now represents the United Reformed Church at meetings of the Churches Advisory Council for Local Broadcasting.

11.2 MAP

The Secretary continues as a member of the Media Awareness Project.

11.3 Church Publishers Network

The Church Publishers Network set up under the auspices of CCBI continues to meet biannually.

1.1 The Communications and Editorial office is constantly asked to provide labels or mailing lists to other organisations. The present policy is to provide a limited list of ministers to Christian Aid and to the Free Churches’ Council for particular mailings.

1.2 The URC Year Book, published annually, gives personal details on all ministers of the United Reformed Church, names and details for ministers of other churches serving the denomination and names and full addresses of church secretaries.

1.3 It is apparent that despite the copyright notice printed in the book many commercial organisations purchase the Year Book and compile mailing lists from the information therein. It is also possible to buy a United Reformed Church mailing list through a commercial organisation specialising in the compilation of lists from a wide variety of sources. The information on such lists is often inaccurate. There has been concern expressed by ministers and church officers at the amount of unsolicited mail which is constantly received.

1.4 There has now been a request from a commercial publisher to publish the information contained within the Year Book on the Internet. The Committee are of the opinion that if such information is to be published in this way it should be by the Church using its own site, where it can be regularly updated. It is hoped to publish on the United Reformed Church website, a list of those ministers in pastoral charge who have agreed to their names being included, in the near future.

1.5 Churches Information for Mission, an organisation set up under the aegis of CTE has plans to provide a central data base of all church information including details of ministers and officers. The United Reformed Church is a member of CIM and has a seat on the Board. The Committee welcomes the work already done by CIM in this area, especially in mapping projects as a tool for mission.

1.6 For CIM to develop further and to become a fully effective tool for mission, the Project has apparently to rely for some funding on the sale of mailing lists to commercial organisations. Although reassurances have been received that each denomination may determine how its own material is used, the Committee have expressed unease at such a Project being funded in this way and seek guidance on how much material should be made available and how privacy can be safeguarded.

1.1 The Churches Advertising Network (CAN) is an ecumenical project which, seeing as its target audience are those who do not go to church, aims to bring to their attention the ‘rumour of God’ in an increasingly hostile world through a series of topical and relevant radio advertisements, poster and leaflet campaigns.

1.2 CAN is a professional organisation using some of the best names in advertising and yet is economical in that most of the expertise, time and equipment used is donated. As yet there is little financial input from most denominations and the network operates within an extremely tight budget.

Copyright © 1998, United Reformed Church

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