Before you press print
Print one. Fold it. Read it. Then print the rest.
Every item below is here because it is cheap to check and expensive to discover on Sunday morning. Work down it with one printed, folded copy in your hand — not on screen. Half of these are invisible on a screen.
The date and the day
- Is the date right? The commonest error in the building, because last week’s file said last week’s date.
- Is the Sunday named correctly? Check against the calendar, especially in November and around principal feasts, which displace the Sunday.
- Are the readings the ones for this day and this year? Year A, B or C — the year changes at Advent, not in January. Check this Sunday.
- Is the colour right? It should match what will actually be on the altar.
The content
- Do the hymn numbers match the book in the pews? Not the book on your desk, if they are different editions.
- Is the psalm the appointed one, and the appointed verses?
- Are the names in the prayers spelled correctly, and should they still be there? The prayer list that has not been reviewed since March is a pastoral problem, not a typographical one.
- Are the notices current? Including the ones about events that have now happened.
- Does the seasonal shape match the season? Gloria omitted in Advent and Lent — see when the Gloria is omitted.
The legal bits
- Is your parish name on the front cover? A condition of the Common Worship local-use permission, not a nicety.
- Is the copyright acknowledgement present? See the exact wording.
- Is your hymn licence number printed, if you have reproduced words still in copyright?
The physical object
- Print one and fold it. Pages in order? Nothing upside down? If alternate pages are inverted, see short edge or long edge.
- Is anything running into the fold or off the edge? The inner margin needs more room than the outer.
Then, and only then
Count the congregation you expect and add ten — not fifty. Unused booklets are the largest single waste in most parish print budgets, and the ones left over cannot be used next week because the date is on them.
Keep one copy in a folder. It is your record of what the parish actually did on that day, and in five years it will be the only one.
Questions
What should you check before printing an order of service?
The date, the name of the Sunday, the readings for the correct lectionary year, the liturgical colour, hymn numbers against the pew books, the psalm verses, the prayer list, the notices, the seasonal shape, the parish name on the cover, the copyright acknowledgement, your hymn licence number, and one folded test copy.
How many copies of a service booklet should we print?
The congregation you expect plus about ten. Leftovers cannot be reused because the date is printed on them, and unused booklets are the largest waste in most parish print budgets.