Sometimes I hear a formal testimony or sermon and ask the speaker to turn that into an article. Sometimes I read a good article in another magazine or book and ask for permission to reprint it. Some come from professional or aspiring writers. The Herald thus becomes the vehicle through which Canadian Mennonite Brethren teach and encourage each other. The list of upcoming issues is developed six months to a year ahead, and is constantly being revised as articles come in, issues arise and needs change.
Many periodicals publish primarily long articles.
Instead of trying to find comprehensive long articles which look at an issue from all sides, we often put together 8-12 shorter articles which together may look at an issue more thoroughly than any single article could. Once the articles are selected and put together, they must be edited. Everything that appears in the Herald is edited, and it is only inexperienced and overconfident writers who expect that their articles will be published as originally written. Copyediting takes time. I routinely go over an article at least three times and sometimes six or eight times.