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Messenger by Post

Messenger by Post

John Surridge

Over the last few months thousands of our members have been receiving the Messenger magazine by post. During the Covid lockdowns and the closure of our churches the Messenger has provided a lifeline to those who may be feeling isolated and cut off from their church family. The initial mailings were targeted fairly randomly, based on just a sample of the membership data that we have. This was partly to keep costs down, but also because we didn't want to annoy people who were already receiving it by other means – web or email for example.

We therefore tried to target only those who didn't have email addresses and also tried to make sure that we didn't send two magazines to any one house. After running the data through a commercial data cleansing process we also discovered that a lot of the addresses we had on record were not accurate. So, rather than sending the magazines to those addresses and risking paying double the postage when they were returned, we simply removed them from the mailing list.

The system is now changing. Starting from the April edition we will only be sending the Messenger by post to those who have actively opted in to receiving it. Cards were included with the first mailings for people to complete and return, and many people have done so. Now though, anyone who wants to receive the Messenger by post can simply notify their Church Clerk and ask to be included. And this is where we need your help. There may be many of our members who would like to receive the Messenger by post but are not aware of the provision. If you know of such a person, please ask them if they'd like to receive it and then let your Church Clerk know. The Church Clerk will quickly 'tag' the person's record in ACMS (the membership database system) and they will be included in the next mailing.

Of course, if you would like to receive the Messenger by post yourself, just follow the same procedure. It doesn't matter if you are able to receive it by email or on the web, if you'd like it by post, just ask. There's no cost to you or your church, as the Union, Conferences and Missions have agreed to cover the costs.