The unidentified hand passing the mysterious envelope was not divine intervention, even though it came in the choir pew Sunday morning.

After months of work, the envelope contained the first public affirmation about The Natchez Democrat’s newest venture: Natchez the Magazine.

An enthusiastic friend and community booster couldn’t wait until the end of the church service to express his excitement about the new publication.

“I wanted to be the first to subscribe,” the parishioner said as he reached out with the envelope after leaving the communion rail.

With that he handed me the envelope and went back to his pew.

It wasn’t an answer to prayer but it did allay any worries I had collected over the last few days before the magazine’s preview edition hit doorsteps and front porches across the Miss-Lou Sunday morning.

Sitting at home flipping through my own preview early Sunday morning, I wondered if readers would respond with the same level of excitement we at the newspaper have had for months putting Natchez the Magazine together.

Sure there have been a few worries and doubts, but those are to be expected with anything brand new.

That nervous energy has also been met with curiosity, enthusiasm and anticipation, especially as our long months of pre-planning came to fruition.

Sunday’s preview was just a small taste of the 100-page magazine that will be published later this month.

It will be the first of many issues that will focus on all of the things that make Natchez, well, Natchez.

If you ask many people who are familiar with our hometown, but do not live here, what they think of Natchez, you are likely to get a predictable range of responses.

Antebellum houses, the Mississippi River and classic southern hospitality were the first associations made by the people I met as I traveled last week to Austin, Texas.

Those of us fortunate enough to live here know the area has much more to offer.

As the preview says, Natchez is so much more than those classic white Corinthian columns marking the front of Stanton Hall.

Along with its reputation for being classic, refined and elegant, Natchez is also vibrant, adventurous and fun, not to mention a little quirky and unpredictable.

That’s what I love most about my home and what I hope readers will discover in the pages of Natchez the Magazine.

The fall edition will feature all of this and more including breakfast ideas that will keep your family home for the holidays, a couple that brought love back to a 1911 institution and a canine who is queen of her literary kingdom.

If you want to discover all there is to love about Natchez subscribe by going to www.natchezthemagazine.com.

Sunday morning’s affirmation via the communion rail express is just the first of many enthusiastic responses from the community.

Maybe it wasn’t a message from God, but it was close.

Ben Hillyer is web editor at The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.