Microsoft Publisher is set to retire in October 2026, when Microsoft will stop providing updates and technical support. A recent guide from United Methodist Communications, published on ResourceUMC, helpfully walks churches through some replacement options at every budget level.
Beyond choosing new software, a conversation with our conference archivist, Rev. Pam Osborne, prompted me to consider a different risk: bulletins, newsletters, and other files saved only in Publisher’s native format will eventually become unreadable as the unsupported Publisher application slips beyond the veil.
For those using Publisher through the Microsoft 365 suite, the application will be inaccessible starting October 1. If you are using a standalone, one-time-purchase version, Publisher will continue to function until bugs and a lack of support eventually brick it.
The fix to this problem can be simple but time-consuming. A guide from ChurchArt Online recommends locating every .pub file on church computers and shared drives, sorting them by usage frequency, then opening and exporting each one as a PDF or a Microsoft Word document. Consider using the PDF format for anything that won’t need future edits, and Word for documents that require ongoing changes. Back up fonts and linked images along the way.
The Archives & History page on the PNW Conference website has a document titled “Guidelines for Managing Records of the Local Church.” In that document, a chart on Page 29 details the types of documents that ought to be preserved for a local church archive. Bulletins and newsletters, items often produced with Microsoft Publisher, are among those that should be preserved.
For archival work, printed copies are sufficient, but as more groups turn to digital archival solutions, the transition away from Publisher might be an opportunity to digitally protect and preserve older publications before they become difficult or impossible to access.
