MiniZine: Loving Your Church (PDF download)

Do you love your church?

We don’t mean: do you love the music, or the quality of the preaching, or the architecture of the building?

We mean: do you love the people God has given you to meet with each week? And how do you show that love?

The three articles in this MiniZine not only challenge us to think about our attitudes to church life, but give lots of practical ideas for becoming more loving, caring and welcoming to those around us.

Contents

• How to walk into church, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
• Becoming a welcoming church, by Sandra King
• How to be a small group member, by Tony Payne
• Discussion guide

Introduction

I’ve been to church at least 2000 times in my life so far. To my shame, I would have to say that I have wasted many of those occasions.

This may seem a strange confession to make. Surely I should be rather proud of having turned up so often. And how does one ‘waste’ going to church anyway?

It all depends on why we go.

If going to church on Sunday is largely about me receiving spiritual food and inspiration, then I guess it could be wasted if I failed to pay attention or fell asleep or rebelliously refused to soften my heart. (And who hasn’t occasionally ‘wasted’ a Sunday in this way?)

But, more importantly, if church is an opportunity to love and serve the other people who are there, then it could be even more easily wasted by a simple failure to care.

The three articles in this MiniZine all offer encouragement and ideas for ‘loving our church’ more than we do.

The first is about the extensive ministry that every ‘pew-sitter’ has every Sunday, a ministry that starts with thinking about how you walk into the building!

The second article focuses on welcoming newcomers and visitors. Every church would like to think that it is ‘warm and friendly’. But how easy is it for a brand new person to feel at home in your congregation?

And the final short article talks about ‘small church’—that is, about how to make the most of the small home groups many of us belong to.

— Tony Payne

What is a MiniZine?
It's not a booklet, or a leaflet, or a tract. It's not a full-sized magazine either. It's somewhere in the middle: a short collection of articles, in an economical, easy-to-read format, with a discussion guide included.

The aim is simple: to provide high-quality Bible-based input to help Christians encourage each other.

MiniZines are ideal for giving away, for starting personal conversations, and for small group discussion.