The pastor or designated parish representative must approve all parish news items sent to The BCW office. Parish news may be published as an announcement (informing before the event) and/or as a follow-up (reporting after the event) and includes several categories:

such as dinners, summer picnics, bazaars, anniversary celebrations, church or community service projects, pilgrimages, etc.

consider reporting on outstanding professional, academic, civic or personal achievements, special recognition conferred by religious or civic organizations. Please note that the election of new officers for parish organizations, the appointment of special parish committees or routine participation of parishioners in local activities may not be of general interest to our wider readership.

Eastern Christian Formation (ECF), Youth Group, Bible studies, special programs, etc.

These life events are very important to the life of the Church, however, due to space limitations, regular coverage of these events for every parish in the Archeparchy is not possible. It is possible though, to find a unique “angle” and submit a story/photo of the event for consideration. Be creative! Many items are newsworthy and quite interesting to the general readership, if treated with the appropriate perspective and focus. If in doubt, submit the article and let the staff decide.

Although “First Communion” photos are no longer requested for publication (in accordance with the re-establishment of simultaneously conferring upon infants the Mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Eucharist), consideration may be given to group photos of ECF students on the occasion of their first reception of the Mystery of Reconciliation and subsequent first “solemn” reception of the Holy Eucharist.

We are always happy to publish news of Archieparchial parish and organizational events. However, although the BCW may, upon request and availability, be able to have a staff member present at an event to provide coverage, it is strongly advised that each parish designate a reporter and photographer to cover events for submission to the BCW.

Materials must be received as soon as possible: ideally no later than six weeks before an event, and no later than three weeks after an event. Remember, old news is not news. We will make every endeavor to tell our readers about your events, but keep in mind that timeliness is important.

An article about an event or activity which has already been covered in the BCW will not be printed again. Generally, the first article received is the one that will be printed.

Contributors are urged to use the BCW publication schedule as a guide for submissions to ensure compliance with deadlines and timely receipt of materials for optimum coverage and promotion of events.

All text – articles, features, event information, etc. – submitted to The BCW office on behalf of a parish MUST have prior approval by the pastor/administrator or designated parish representative for content and accuracy.

Every submission must include the author’s name, title/position, affiliation, contact information, AND:

• The full name and title/position of the person submitting the materials (if other than the author);
• Address (number, street, city, state, zip)
• E-mail address
• Phone number
• Arch/eparchy, church and/or organization affiliation

Although hard-copy typewritten and/or handwritten submissions are still accepted, electronic submissions are preferred, for both time-saving purposes and accuracy. Please ensure that all writing is legible. Text documents received in the BCW office are usually scanned via flatbed scanner for OCR (Optical Character Recognition, which converts hard-copy print to electronic text), so it is important that submissions be accurate, clean, dark and case-sensitive. This is done to save time in the editing and placement process, as hard copy/typewritten pages require considerable additional time for processing.

Please note that previously published materials cannot be accepted unless written permission from the author and/or original publisher is obtained. Likewise, re-writing of such articles or copyrighted materials cannot be considered.

By e-mail: Computer-generated text submissions are preferred, and may be e-mailed to bcw@archeparchy.org. Use a standard PC-compatible word processing program such as Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect with a “Times” or similar font in 12-point size when sending attachments. Or, “cut and paste” the article directly into the body of the e-mail.

By postal service: Save all files (text and images) to a CD-R (or a 3.5” floppy disk if text only) and postal-mail along with a hard copy to The BCW office. As with all materials, these articles are subject to approval and editing, and may not be returned.

By fax: Faxing is accepted, however discouraged due to the poor quality of most faxed copies, which makes the convenient use of OCR (see above) quite difficult, if not impossible.

Photographs add color and interest to articles; try to include them if possible.

Images should be of good quality – ideally action or candid shots – and MUST be accompanied by key identifying information:

• Date and location of the event
• Sponsoring parish, organization, etc.
• Names and positions/titles of individuals in the photo
• Highlights, interesting information about the activity/event
• Photographer’s name for photo credit

Please note that photos and storage media (CDs, floppies, etc.) cannot be returned.

Also, just as restrictions are applicable to text materials, please note that previously published photos and graphics cannot be accepted unless written permission from the photographer, designer, and/or original publisher is obtained. Many such images and graphics may be copyrighted and cannot be considered for publication without permission.

Additionally, it is understood by The BCW staff that:

• All photos submitted have been approved by the pastor of the submitting parish;
• Clearances and permissions (verbal or written) from the subjects pictured have been obtained by the individual making the submission, including parents of any children involved.