The church is the oldest surviving institution in the history of the world. It has changed lives and shaped nations. It has been loved, hated, and ignored in equal measure. But what is the church, and why is it important to understand its purpose in the world? This mini-guide, The Church, answers those questions and shows why the church matters much more than we might at first think.

Each title in this Banner Mini-Guides series will provide an outline of the Bible’s teaching on a particular subject. They will open up a key verse or portion of Scripture for study, while not neglecting other passages related to the theme under consideration, The goal is to whet your appetite and to encourage you to explore the subject in more detail: hence the suggestions for further reading which appear after the final chapter. However, the mini-guide will provide enough information to enlarge your understanding of the theme.

The mini guides are close to 100 pages in length, and retail for $8.00 Their affordable price and accessible length will enable them to be used in a wide variety of churches and with Christians with a wide variety of reading ability. It is our hope that both a fledgling believer and a seasoned saint could profit from these volumes.

All the mini guides have been arranged in a thirteen-chapter format so that they will seamlessly fit into the teaching quarters of the church year, and be useful for Sunday school lessons or Bible class studies.

Table of Contents

About the Author

Mark Johnston is originally from Northern Ireland where he studied in Queen’s University, Belfast. He went from there to study theology in Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia before returning to Ireland in 1984. He spent the next ten years involved in Church planting work with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ireland, overseeing the establishment of Trinity EPC, Richhill.