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Hallo again to all.

This week we have 50 new parish listings, from all over the world. You can see them in our New This Week section. We never lose our sense of awe and wonder at the breadth and diversity of the Anglican Communion, even while rejoicing in its unity.

Melbourne We really enjoy looking at parish web pages. Besides the time we spend every week reviewing and adding new parish listings to Anglicans Online, we often just click at random on parish pages in Glasgow or Germany or Georgia or Grafton, just to see what's there and read about faraway parish families.

Sometimes we wish we could dig deeper, and learn more about a parish or a diocese than is on its website. And sometimes we can: when a diocese is looking for a new bishop, it's the custom in the USA for that diocese to produce and distribute a printed diocesan profile that will help attract and persuade qualified candidates. Sometimes these profiles end up online, too.

Cynthia earns her living as the principal of a small marketing and public relations firm in upstate New York, and the Search Committee of the Diocese of New Jersey is one of her clients. Aden She worked with them to produce and print their profile. While it was mailed out a month ago, she is working tonight on finishing the online version of the profile, so Brian is on his own writing this week's letter. However, that means that he can toot her horn a little, which she would never do.

The printed version of the New Jersey Diocesan Profile is a work of art. If you are lucky enough to have received one of the 2000 that were printed, then you already know this. This allows Brian to point out how much difference good communication makes. Read the New Jersey profile and note that it makes you want to worship there and live there, even if you can't be the bishop.

Our three rules of good communication are 'know your audience, know your medium, know your message'. If you are preparing a website, or thinking about it, or if you maintain one, think about your medium. The online version of the New Jersey profile is as beautiful in its own medium as the printed version. Please take a long and careful look at the difference between the printed (or PDF) version of the New Jersey profile and the web version of the same thing. Note how utterly different they are in fundamental approach, and yet how similar they are in the mood and message that they convey. So far the only complaints received about the New Jersey profile are from clergy whose parishes weren't highlighted in it. We therefore feel safe in telling you that when we harp on the importance of good communication from and within our church, we can use Cynthia's New Jersey profile as an example. No, Cynthia, you are not allowed to delete that sentence.

On an entirely separate topic, we're moving ahead with our plans for a Homiletics section of Anglicans Online, and we've found an editor for it. We expect to launch our Homiletics page before Advent. We thank you for all of your encouraging comments.

See you next week. Until then, would you do us the favour of having a look at some of the 50 new parish websites, and at Cynthia's amazing profile of the Diocese of New Jersey? They're all listed in New This Week.

off duty today
Cynthia McFarland cmcf@anglicansonline.org	Brian Reid reid@anglicansonline.org

Last updated: 25 August 2002
URL: http://anglicansonline.org/