The latest issue of Parable magazine is sixteen pages long, and for good reason. With a page full of 'Dates for your Diary' and four events to write up, the Lent and Easter period is as busy as it often is for a Church magazine. All three Sunday School groups sent in their annual reports to be shared, taking up another five pages.

I wrote an apology in the editorial for the skipped January/February issue, as with both my orthodontic surgery and Christmas I had been to busy to get started on Parable. Having a bigger issue to give out, so full of information, was mentioned as a way of making up for the gap.

With one of the groups that meet in the hall closing, and the Church Secretary stepping down, I had to make changes to the static inside cover pages. I had lots of content to fit in: answers to the puzzles in the previous issue; advertisement for a charity event; information about two annual services; Sunday School annual reports; the borough's Church group Easter services; a busy two months worth of dates and events.

As I added and rearranged information, I saved one side of a page for a cover article. When I had added every item I had, it took me to 17 sides, and I considered putting the Sunday School reports on the cover. However, without a good title or image idea, it didn't feel like a front page item. I also had an idea for an aptly-timed article about our existance as a Church without a full time Minister, making more rearrangement for 16 page sides seem more than worthwhile.

The last challenge was finding an image. I had an idea in my head of an abstract photo of a minister, cassock and clerical collar, which I could not find free-to-use online. I pictured the the altar area, and it was not hard to find the word lectern, nor find free-to-use pictures of various lecterns. Steering away from other faith symbolism, such as stars of David, lecterns resembling Qu'ran stands and even clearly Catholic altar areas, I found many images of eagle lecterns and chose the one I found most a

Before I even started this issue, I knew it would be worked around the main article, a three-page long contribution entitled 'The Suspended Coffee Story'. This article was given to me for the previous issue, but due to it's length was impossible to fit in.

Luckily, I was not sent any other articles, and the amount of news and dates were at a usual level, so as I began creating the issue, I was pleased that I had not been sent any other contributions.

Just as I began to realise that I had a number of sides that weren't divisible by four, which would leave blank pages in the printed issue, I was sent two poems. The poems, by a brother and sister, had been read out in the recent youth-led service, and happily brought the page total to a multiple of four.

Carrying on in this easy to create issue, I had known what type of image would be perfect to accompany the cover article's title, and an appropriate and clear image was soon found. For the first time in a while, I also found the cover image on Morgue File, meaning no searching for copyright information or name for the image credit.

This issue was slightly late to be given out, but very full of content: with the Summer Holidays, various events and news (including two births), two articles and the second Rebekka Carrolle poem in the folder, I didn't actually have space for them all! It's a lovely feeling to have too much content, as Parable magazine is by the congregation, for the congregation.

A young member of the congregation sent in their account of the Christian festival Spring Harvest, which they went to with the Sunday School group. A very insightful adult member also sent in an article, although as it was much longer, and I had made the decision previously to ensure children's contributions are used immediately, it was the adult's article which I chose to save for another issue.

The Spring Harvest article was sent to me with two photos of the group, and the news of one members new baby was sent with a photo of the new arrival. This meant that there were the best pictures attached to the items, and it saved me the search for an appropriate picture. 

There was still a page and a half blank, and the article about Spring Harvest didn't seem like the right item to feature on the cover. Luckily, an activity I taught at Girls' Brigade gave me an idea, and the article 'How Big?' also had obvious images to pair with it. I had the cover image in my mind immediately, but it proved slightly harder to find than I had imagined. The image I decided upon was landscape, so had to be cropped for better placing on the cover.

Normally, May and June are not a time where Church magazines are filled with content, as the big Church dates of Easter and Christmas and the common Church summer holiday events like fetes and outings are elsewhere in the year. Luckily, I was inundated with items.

A member sent in a fantastic article about supporting the Church, and our resident poet, a member of the youth group and choir, send me a poem she had written for, and performed at, the groups Church service.

Similarly, an Elder gave me two poems, included in a book to be shared with Church groups. Oddly, it was almost impossible to find the author and poet, the book or even the poems online. Once found, I emailed the author to verify that they were her poems, and that printing them in a Church magazine was indeed allowed.

Fantastically, she replied immediately, more than happy; sharing her poems was her intention, and she was glad that we liked them.

I also had topical items, both sad and happy, which were not submitted. Sadly, the mother of a Church member, and a person who had lived a full and fantastic life, passed away. To announce this, I wrote a small piece about the life she had lived, and the things she had achieved. On a happier note, I was able to share the news of a Church member's 50th birthday, and include a piece about some fundraising I am doing.

Lent and Easter are arguably the most important Christian holiday - while Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth, this period mourns his death and celebrates his ressurrection. It seemed only obvious to write a Lent cover article.

In researching and fact checking, I found things that I didn't know, such as the Latin name for Lent, and that Lent is from the colloquial word for Spring. The issue of when Lent ends has always been a hot topic for debate in my Church, and although I am of a set opinion on the matter, I tried to keep that out of this article, for another forum or another year.

Putting this article in the finished magazine caused me two image dilemmas: finding a piece of clipart or free image of Mardi Gras suitable for a Church, family, and possibly sensitive audience, and selecting a cover image that related to Lent. I found a piece of carnival mask clipart and chose a cross, linking the imagery instead to Good Friday, which is what Lent is leading up to, after all.

Unfortunately, I didn't receive much from Church members this time. The Church Secretary gave me the Preaching Plan, which was for the whole of 2013 and means for I have that information for every issue and right from the start. A member of the youth choir and teenage Sunday School group resent me an article which had been lost, presumably in my email's junk folder, when he first sent it to me in September.

Feeling a little behind time, as this Parable will be out on the first Sunday of March, rather than the last Sunday of February, I included a contributions deadline and issue due date before going to print.

Despite letting January sneak up on me, and struggling to decide a cover image, I managed to get issue 11 printed and ready to hand out by the third Sunday of January.

Luckily, I had a brilliant cover article ready and waiting; one of our fantastic Seniors/Brigaders at Girls' Brigade had given me the article before Christmas. She'd written as part of her drive to promote 1st Leyton and I had been saving it for the cover article place it deserved.

I also recieved a very typical Church magazine piece in the second week of January; a tale of bumping into an old aquaintance at a Scouts event, and them sharing camping memories. The same person had sent me a forwarded email of amusing mistyped Church bulletins (such as "Worry sending you to an early grave? Let the Church help!"), which, when added in, got the page count up to a print amount.

As brilliant as the GB article is, it left me drawing a blank for a cover image. The previous GB article had coincided with the Remembrance Day Parade, so I had just asked a person who had taken photos of it if I could have one for the cover. Another stroke of luck for this last minute issue, I found an image of stained glass window showing the Girls' Brigade logo. Thankful for photographers who ask only to be credited, I went to print.