By Administration
We have had a few people asking us for the background behind the use of the Latin term Lux Mundi for not just our Sunday Weekly but also our website. Until now we have not properly answered this although for Christians, the term is not exactly unknown or unheard of.
Nonetheless for 2015, we usher in not just the New Year but a whole new fresh take on our Sunday Weekly and answer some of these longstanding questions.
For church members and visitors to Hosanna EFC, the first
edition of Lux Mundi for 2015 (issue 024/5 dated January 4 2015) will have a
different front cover look – the masthead has been redesigned!
Why not! Brand New Year, brand new look. Brave. Bold.
Optimistic. Onward forward we march! Following a successful and most enjoyable
Christmas Day 2014, we’re encouraged to take the next steps forward; no longer
meekly but with a new positive tone. Praise the Lord, we do all these to bring
glory to God the Highest.
And so in line with our Internet site branding, we made the
choice that both the virtual and print media should share a consistency in
terms of how they appear and how people identify their mutually associative
identities.
Standardising the logo font
The first thing we did was to see how we could get both the
media versions to have a matching typeface logo. Lux Mundi’s Sunday bulletin –
now called ‘Sunday Weekly’ – has a more ornamented font but other than the
name, is not identifiable with the church’s website. We felt we should now
resolve this.
The font used for the bulletin is sourced from Microsoft
Office 2014 and is called Magneto. Though it doesn’t have anything to do with
the X-Men, it is a rather stylish design with a progressively modern feel to
it.
And because we essentially use MS PowerPoint to design and
publish our bulletins, using the Magneto font was very straightforward. We like
it but we could not find anything on the Web that is close to this that we
could use on our website.
So, as much as we wanted it this way, it was not possible.
Unless any of our readers can indicate otherwise, our decision has been to
retire a great-looking font in the interest of consistency and brand standardisation.
And with that, we made the decision to extend the website’s choice of typeface
for our bulletin.
No longer a ‘bulletin’ but a ‘Sunday Weekly’
Before the print version was given a name – much less ‘Lux
Mundi’ – we called it the ‘church bulletin’ simply because that was all it used
to be. We did have a core article that, by tradition, draws parallel to the
sermon to be preached each Sunday, there was not much else to it.
It had a very functional objective and was meant specifically
for church members. Visitors might, on the other hand, find very little that is
useful other than the odd announcement about some event that may be of
interest. Other than that, it was tersely a ‘bulletin’ in every sense of the
word.
Ever since the change that came on August
3 2014 with the first edition of Lux Mundi, the agenda was different. While
it retained the core purposes that drove the bulletin before, it promised more.
We were going to use it as a vehicle to do more. We were aiming to use it to be
of broader interest to non-church members whether they are Christians or
non-believers.
And therefore Lux Mundi has outgrown the traditional functions
of being just a bulletin. It is therefore no longer appropriate to suggest that
it is one. Instead it has a stronger gloss as a basic magazine but in a
somewhat lesser way.
In its paper media form, Lux Mundi is more appropriately a
Sunday Weekly. In other words it is published every weekly – unless otherwise
notified – and it is only available on the Sundays of the calendar. And as a ‘weekly,’
Lux Mundi now has a richer mix of features beyond the perfunctory notions of a
bulletin.
There are now one or more articles, a weekly reflection verse
(like a ‘verse of the week’), an editorial and a regular comic strip courtesy
of Bob West who is also our very generous and ardent supporter. And of course
inheriting from our bulletin background, we also have weekly reports on our
offering collections, announcements and church notices.
As a Sunday Weekly, Lux Mundi will continue to respond to
special events, observances and Christian calendar histories. Our coming December
28 issue addresses these with a full list of such events and these are also
available online under the Upcoming
Events section.
As and when such arises, there will likely be bumper editions
with special inserts or simply more pages. We’ve seen this happen with our
recent Christmas where there is also a unique Hosanna
Songbook created. In 2015, expect to see similar bumper issues for the Good
Friday-Easter Sunday weekend including the weeks of Lent leading up to it.
As a Sunday Weekly, we have also seen Lux Mundi featuring special
supplements to commemorate the centenary of World War I, the Hebrews Heroes of
Faith and soon, we will be going into the Ten Commandments in some detail, one
commandment at a time.
The lighthouse logo for Lux Mundi
As we know, the Latin term translates to ‘light of the world’
and the basis for using the lighthouse is symbolically provide light to guide and
help ships to navigate around. When the sea becomes rough, light shone by the
lighthouse will become invaluable in helping the ship to avoid accidents. It
becomes a reference point from which to steer the vessel.
At Hosanna EFC, we look to the Sunday Weekly as not only a
source of interesting reading for those who attend or visit our church but also
as an instrument to reach out to others. In a world where the church is
supposed to lead and not the other way around, Lux Mundi is just one small
attempt from a very small church to do something.
Rather than sit it out and mind our own business, it is our business as a church to be
instrumental, to be purposeful and to be effective. And if that means bring
even one reader to Christ, we would have been successful.
There are numerous logos that utilise the lighthouse. The trick
is to find one that is not too complex but not too indifferent also. The
balance is to seek a graphic design that is instantly recognisable, has
sufficient details and simple enough to print well. The good thing about this
logo is that one only uses two colours to make an impression.
Biblical verse added
Matthew 5:14-16 (NASB) says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lampstand,
and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men
in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is
in heaven.”
The fundamental premise of Lux Mundi is exactly what these
verses mean. We are to be a source of direction, righteousness and inspiration.
We are to provide guidance and to shine the way to lead others away from
darkness. We are to be an example for others to follow; that all these may lead
to the glory of our Father in Heaven. The name Lux Mundi is expressly to define
this.
Needless to say, it isn’t only Matthew that talks about the
light. John 8:12 (NASB) touches on the same subject, with Jesus saying, “I am
the Light of the World; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness but
will have the Light of life.”
There are also quite a few other verses in the Bible. Romans
13:11-14 talks of the necessity to put on “the armour of light” to fight
darkness. Psalm 119:105 reminds us that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and
therefore a light to our paths. Ephesians 5:7-14 asserts that we are no longer children
of darkness but instead we are the “Light of the Lord,” walking as “children of
Light.”
If you’re interested in researching the subject, by all means
go also to 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, Colossians 1:9-14, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, John
9:5, John 12:35, Job 24:13, Isaiah 60:1 and Acts 13:47.
We feel it entirely appropriate to place the selected verse
just under the lighthouse logo to signify its relevance not just to the graphic
but also to the name ‘Lux Mundi.’ As it is under
the lighthouse, Jesus’ words hold us up from below, giving us strength and
support at all times so that we may do the will of the Father.
Reorganising the issue number, date stamp
The original placement was purely done in a hurry and they
were both positioned where we could find space. It wasn’t the best but it served
its purpose for all the editions in 2014.
When it was time to redesign the masthead, we made the
decision to follow the long-held tradition of many tabloids by lining them up
horizontally and below the paper’s name.
It made a lot of sense by doing it this way because these
details are now easier to find and read.
Revised masthead description
It probably goes without much notice if we didn’t mention it
but we should. In Malaysia there are strict limitations as to what can and
cannot be published as much as it is who can and cannot read certain
literatures.
In fact the government of this country has the constitutional
authority to seize any printing activities on any grounds that they consider to
“endanger” the Muslim population. And with that in mind, the masthead
description is now more comprehensive, more specific and can never ever be
misconstrued or misread.
The original description reads, “Lux Mundi (‘Light of the
World’) is a Christian Sunday weekly published by the Hosanna Evangelical Free
Church made freely available to registered members including worshippers and visitors.
It is also available in online version at http://hosannaefcluxmundi.blogspot.com.”
In the new version, it reads a little differently, “Lux Mundi
(‘Light of the World’) is a Christian Sunday weekly published by the Hosanna
Evangelical Free Church made freely available to registered members including
worshippers and non-Muslim visitors.
It is also available in online version at hosannaefcluxmundi.blogspot.com.”
Other than the simple truncation and removal of the HTTP
prefix in the URL, the key difference is in the addition of the word ‘non-Muslim.’
Signifying this in the description tells the reader that this publication is
not meant for Malays and/or Muslims to consume. We aren’t responsible if the
person picks up a copy of Lux Mundi anywhere outside our church. So long as we
have made it explicitly clear that we are not in breach of any proselytising
laws of the country, we have no argument with the government of the day.
NOTE
All back and current issues of the Lux Mundi Sunday Weekly editions are available for free online downloading and can be found by clicking here.
NOTE
All back and current issues of the Lux Mundi Sunday Weekly editions are available for free online downloading and can be found by clicking here.
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