Bulletins seen as communications tool but also historical record

Published: 2004-05-17

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (CNS) -- These days, it is rare for Catholics to exit weekend Mass without a bulletin in hand. "It's valuable in that it's bringing something tangible home -- a souvenir of the Mass, so to speak," said Father James Hahn, pastor of Christ the King Parish in Cambridge. James Thoennes, archivist for the St. Cloud Diocese, said he recalls that when taking Communion to the homebound he would "bring along the bulletin, and that was like a letter from home." There is no doubt bulletins are an important vehicle for communication between the pastor and his congregation and within the congregation itself. And, their value doesn't end there. For some parishes, bulletins are a source of important historical records. The bulletins at Holy Spirit Parish in St. Cloud recently became an invaluable source of information for the pastoral staff. Someone stole the parish's safe in April. The crime remains unsolved, and the safe and its contents -- more than $4,000 in checks and cash as well as parish documents and sacramental records -- are still missing. Losing the money was bad, but so was losing the records, said Father Virgil Helmin, pastor.

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