Does the name Irwin Helford mean anything to you? If you’re involved with the running of a local church I guarantee you’d recognize his face. He’s what you could describe as an evangelist, spreading his message far and wide across Great Britain. He’d be standing in a dark blue suit with a reassuring smile on his face and be pointing to an inkjet printer, a packet of biros, or a paper shredder. His message is simple, “There’s something that will make your life easier … so why not buy it from Viking Direct?"

Nowadays local churches seem to be bombarded with a similar notion—hundreds of Irwin Helfords, all offering the next bit of kit which will "make your ministry easier." So with that in mind let me try and unpack some of the possibilities and share some of the pitfalls without this becoming yet another glossy brochure of tempting ideas that actually solve nothing.

The tradition of the church newsletter

I grew up in an Anglican church (brought up by a family of mice in the religious equivalent to Jungle Book). As a little boy, I distinctly remember the vicar loading his carefully typed Sunday newsletter onto the drum of a Gestetner copier, and then frantically turning the handle to reproduce hundreds of very faint and very blurred carbon imitations. A quarter of a century later I’m sure there are plenty of church leaders who spend an even longer time designing, photocopying, collating, folding, and stapling newsletters for their church.

A few ideas to maximise the results:

Read the complete article at Christianity magazine.