IT was a night when we said thank you to those people who help us to stay in touch.

The Hambledonian, Most Improved Parish Magazine 2014

Members of the team who put together The Hambledonian outside the parish church

Parish magazine editors and webmasters from across the diocese gathered for a special Evensong at our cathedral. The bishop preached on the theme of communication and thanking the volunteers for helping to create community and communicate the Christian faith.

Beforehand there had been a training session, in which editors and webmasters were encouraged to share the great stories about people in their congregations via magazines, websites, social media and the secular media. Click here for details.

Editors and webmasters also got to see each other’s work and discuss different ways of producing, financing and designing parish magazines and websites.

And after the Evensong there was a reception and presentation of prizes to the Most Improved Parish Magazines and Most Improved Websites over the past couple of years.

The winners of the Most Improved Parish Magazine was The Hambledonian, a glossy magazine that graces virtually every coffee table in the village. The editorial team produce 650 copies that are hand-delivered to each home in the village every two months for free.

It includes church and community information side-by-side and the team employ a professional graphic designer to ensure it looks stunning each time. The team won the award with a four-page, glossy, colour pullout featuring a mission week in the village. They won £200 to spend on their magazine and a certificate signed by the bishop.

In second place was Bedhampton Parish Magazine, which has improved its production processes so that it reproduces photos more effectively, including colour photos on its cover. The parish won £100. And in third place was Portsdown Post, produced by Christ Church, Portsdown, which included the faith stories of all 10 worshippers who were confirmed by the bishop in a recent service.

The Most Improved Website was www.fivechurches.org.uk, which serves Brighstone, Brook, Mottistone, Chale and Shorwell on the Isle of Wight. Judges were impressed with the design of the site, which included stunning photos of each church, plus a video message from the vicar and offered web browsers the chance to say what they would like prayer for, or what personal problem they might need help with. Another £200 will go to enhance the website further.

In second place was www.saintjohnschurch.org.uk, which serves St John’s Church, Rowlands Castle. This parish has a consistent style which appears throughout all its church literature and on its noticeboards as well as online. And in third place was www.christchurchgosport.co.uk. The design allowed photos to be used well, and the inclusion of its Twitter stream, a 360-degree panorama of the inside of the church and the links to a Youtube channel were highlighted.