Monday, August 28, 2006

Perhaps the most frustrated people I speak with are those of you who are
getting Pulpit Helps but do not want them. A surprisingly large number of
you are not even churches. At one time, your residence housed a church
secretary or a pastor and despite your diligent efforts for years, you are
unable to even stem the tide of "junk mail." Please know that Pulpit Helps
does not want to be a part of your junk mail problem.

You can e-mail me at subscriptions@pulpithelps.com to have your name removed
from our list, but obviously, Pulpit Helps is only a tiny portion of the
problem. There is another company that can more completely solve your
problem, and they are Direct Marketing Association. Their web address is
dmaconsumers.com. They are basically a "do not mail" list and I understand
you can give them your name and address once to enjoy drastically reduced
amounts of mail for up to 7 years.

Naturally, if you're not getting Pulpit Helps and you'd like to be, give us a shout as well!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Mail Chauvinism?

Every month, I get a few phone calls from subscribers that did not receive their issue. It's just part of doing business and mailing 50,000 items each month.

In August, however, we seem to have had a few more phone calls than usual. My printer assures me everything went smoothly with the mailing, so I don't know where the breakdown has occurred. Perhaps one link in the post office chain is weak this month - who knows.

Rest assured if you did not get your copy, getting a backup is as simple as e-mailing subscriptions@pulpithelps.com or calling 1-800-251-7206.

Thank you,
Lisa
Subscription Services
Pulpit Helps Magazine

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Digital Edition Troubles

Well, I've just had my first encounter with the now infamous "Pulpit Helps Digital Edition." While navigation became easier as I learned the various button functions, the overall impression that this version left me can be distilled into one word - cumbersome.

Still, It was very nice to be able to access all of the content (the look and feel of the print edition, rather than simply the static text that you can read at www.pulpithelps.com) online. Another nice feature was the ability to click on the ads for a direct link to each advertiser's website. Perhaps in the future, we'll be able to make it easier for you to access and navigate. We don't want to keep something that doesn't help anyone. One thing is for sure - we'll find out the easiest way to wade through it all and tell you the most user-friendly way to take in the same PH you know and love in a whole new way.

What do you think? Have any of you had a chance to try out the digital edition? Just click the comment tab below and let us know what you're thinking!

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

In effort to keep up with our changing readership, we've decided to institute a weblog, or "Blog", to facilitate communication between you, our subscribers, and the editorial staff.

We are here for your benefit! The magazine, the website, everything - all exist to provide you with a combination of services you cannot receive in one place from any other source. You've all learned to rely on Pulpit Helps for Sermon Starters, Illustrations, and advice from those more experienced in the ministry. Now that we are more fully a subsidiary of AMG International, you'll be able to find resources to connect your church to short term mission opportunities, updates on the work of the Gospel around the globe, and so much more.

We no longer simply want to "feed" you information. We want to create a much more interactive publication that gives the reader more freedom to choose what goes in. We want to provide material that sparks discussion and prompts you to study and learn. We are committed to equipping you to be Christ's Ambassadors (as described in II Corinthians chapter 5) to your congregation, Sunday School class, and the world at large.

With this new blog (which will be updated frequently), you can have access to the "gears turning in our brains" as we plan out each month's print edition. We'll post articles and/or ideas for your enjoyment, and you can post insightful comments that will be read daily by us and then appended to each entry for the rest of the readership to benefit from.

We hope that this generates a good response because we believe that it could be a wonderful tool to give us easy access to your changing needs and desires as we work to make PH an invaluable resource to your ministry!