Stay A While Longer … And Invite Others

This column actually is an invitation to all of you. Please stay a while longer with The Message, and invite others to join you. We are grateful for your readership, and we work every day to earn your loyalty and continuing support.

Why this column … why now?

We have reached the time of year when many subscribers could be dropping from our lists because they have not chosen to renew their annual subscriptions. We hope that is not the case with you.

For anyone who might be “on the fence,” please indulge this brief overview of our approach to publishing Southwest Indiana’s Catholic community newspaper 51 weeks each year.

Greg Basset of the Salisbury, Md., Independent may have said it better than anyone in a May 2014 column about community newspapers:

“They find great joy — personally and professionally — when they can help bring divergent groups together, who go on to accomplish something good. That’s why local papers exist, and why they must (and will) continue to exist. Someone has to be there to aid those who are making an effort. “

Our parishes and all of their ministries are making wonderful, life-changing efforts on a regular basis. They are educating our children and giving them opportunities to serve in a variety of ways. They are feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. They are providing other levels of assistance through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities.

They are nurturing the spiritual lives of all Catholics, regardless of age, through daily Masses, regular Confession schedules, regular opportunities for Eucharistic adoration – in some cases through perpetual adoration chapels – and visits to hospitals, nursing homes and to others who are homebound.

We strive on a weekly basis to “be there to aid those who are making an effort.” We want to share your news with readers across 12 counties, around four deaneries, in more than 40 parishes. We work hard to include as much local news as possible into every weekly issue.

Our hope is that you will continue to subscribe to The Message, and that you will invite others – friends, family, co-workers – to subscribe, too. In an age where newspaper readership continues to decline, we are hoping to buck that trend by growing readership in The Message, and we hope you will help us in that effort.

According to information from the Catholic Press Association, there are only four diocesan newspapers or magazines in North America that publish as many as 50 issues per year. The Message is one of those four, with 51 weekly issues.

Readers, please know that our unique position in the world of Catholic newspapers and magazines is the result of a commitment by diocesan leadership – dating back more than 47 years – to bring our 12-county Catholic community together through the publication of a weekly newspaper.

One of the most humorous things staff members hear when we cover events involves someone walking up to us and saying, “I see you everywhere.” Yes, it’s gratifying; but it’s more amusing – because they only way anyone sees us “everywhere” is if they are everywhere, too!

Clearly, Catholics in the Diocese of Evansville are committed to being family across 12 counties, in multiple parishes, schools and ministries. The Message is committed to covering that community as well as it can.

Please support our effort. Renew your annual subscription today … stay a while longer. And invite others to join you.