How long to leave names on the mailing list?

At the christening of my granddaughter I had an opportunity to speak with the pastor, also the bulletin editor of the church. One subject was how long to leave people on the address list.

He had attended a recent seminar about church bulletins given by the pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, a very prominent ministry with its own television program.

The advice from the Crystal Cathedral guy? "Leave them on the mailing list until they tell you to remove them."

If you can afford to do this, do. My personal experience has been that some of the most loyal and appreciative readers are those no longer affiliated with the chapter because they've moved away; those members who are too old to attend but love the news from the chapter; those widows of deceased members who are still interested in news of their old friends, and so on.

When the time comes to pare down the list of readers, please don't eliminate the friends of the chapter. Rather, cater to them.