Knowledgebase

Guidelines for reliable parish email communication

Mailing lists are essential for parish life. They help pastors, ministry leaders, and parish councils communicate clearly and consistently with the faithful. To keep lists running smoothly, it is important to follow a few simple best practices.

These recommendations apply to every list created through Orthodox Web Solutions, including “community”, “parish council”, “choir”, “announcements”, “church school”, and ministry-specific lists.

1. Decide the Purpose of the List

Every parish mailing list typically falls into one of two categories:

A) Announcement / Broadcast Lists

Used for one-way communication from leadership to parishioners
Examples:

• Weekly announcements

• Inclement weather notifications

• Ministry updates

• Parish council information

• Church school alerts

B) Discussion Lists

Members can send and reply to each other
Examples:

• Men’s group

• Sisterhood / Ladies group

• Bible study

• Catechumen class

• Youth ministry groups

• Choir communication

Tip: Most parishes use announcement lists far more often than discussion lists.

2. Set Posting Permissions Correctly

For Announcement Lists (Recommended for most parishes):

Only the priest, list owner, or designated admins should be allowed to post.

To configure:
Mailman → Privacy Options → Sender Filters

• Set “By default, should new member postings be moderated?” → Yes

• Under Membership Management, set “Set everyone’s moderation bit” → On

This ensures subscribers cannot accidentally reply-all or send an unintended message to the entire parish.

For Discussion Lists:

• Leave moderation off for trusted members.

• Keep an eye on new members and adjust their status as needed.

3. Use DMARC-Safe Settings (Already Enabled by OWS)

Modern email providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft) are strict about anti-spoofing standards.
To help your messages reach inboxes:

• All lists on OWS servers are configured with “Munge From” to avoid DMARC rejections.

• This means list mail will show:
  From: Person Name via List Name

• This is normal, expected, and improves deliverability.

No action is required on your part.

4. Keep Your Subscriber List Clean

Periodically review members to remove:

• Old addresses that no longer work

• Addresses generating repeated bounces

• Duplicate entries

• Addresses of people who have moved or left the parish

Healthy lists send faster, more reliably, and have fewer delivery problems.

5. Avoid Attachments When Possible

Email attachments are a major cause of:

• Spam filtering

• Delays

• Rejections

• Complaints

Do this instead:

• Upload the PDF or file to your website

• Insert a link to it in your mailing list message

This improves deliverability and reduces server load.

6. Keep Subject Lines Simple

Avoid:

• ALL CAPS

• Excessively long subjects

• Emoji at the start of the subject

• Repeated words (“Update!!! Update!!! Update!!!”)

Instead, use clear subjects such as:

• “Weekly Announcements – Nov 24”

• “Parish Council Agenda – December 10”

• “Weather Update for Sunday Services”

Simple subjects increase opens and reduce spam tagging.

7. Avoid Sending Very Large Messages

Large images and heavy formatting can cause:

• MailChannels throttling

• Delays to Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook

• Bounces for mobile users with full inboxes

Guidelines:

• Keep messages under 100 KB when possible

• Use links rather than embedding full-size images

• Copy/paste text directly instead of uploading a Word file

8. Treat “Reply All” Carefully

On discussion lists, remind members:

• Replies go to the entire group

• Sensitive conversations should be private

• Pastoral matters should go to the priest directly

On announcement lists, moderation prevents accidental replies.

9. Provide Clear Unsubscribe Instructions

Every list provides unsubscribe instructions automatically at the bottom of the email.
Encourage parishioners:

• Not to mark parish mail as spam

• To use the unsubscribe link if they no longer wish to receive messages

• To ask the priest or list owner for help if needed

10. When in Doubt — Ask Us

We support hundreds of parish mailing lists and are happy to assist with:

• Troubleshooting delivery issues

• Configuring list moderation

• Adding/removing subscribers

• Best practices for large parish announcements

• Anything else relating to Mailman lists

Simply open a support ticket and we will gladly help.