Our aim and mission is to help you to improve your magazine and to encourage the effective communication of the Christian message
The Association was formed in 1999 to bring together editors, authors, designers, and other church members involved in the production of church magazines for all denominations throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.
A group of church magazine editors came together to discuss ways of producing eyecatching, improved church magazines. As a result a national church magazine competition was proposed which quickly led to the formation of the Association and more recently to the highly successful ACE Awards Scheme.
Church magazines have played an extremely important role in church life for the last 150 years and more. They reach out not only to existing congregations but also to people who live in the community around the church but who, for whatever reason, do not come to church.
As editors we must never forget those amongst our communities who may have attended church in the past but who are unable to come now through illness, infirmity, old age, or for such reasons as having to act as carers looking after relatives. Others may be young parents with children for whom events at schools and other calls on their young lives sadly don’t leave time for church.
For this outreach to be sustained, church magazines must compete with so many other publications that quality and content have to be as good as our editors can possibly make them. Hence the need for the Association for Church Editors.
The last few years have seen steady growth in our membership. We look to support not only ever more church magazines but also through our magazines growth in our congregations. From small village churches to huge town churches and cathedrals there is the same need to reach out to our potential congregations and encourage them into our churches. Yes, the magazine can and does help in this mission, so let us work together to encourage that.