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What is Church Matters?

Church Matters is a quarterly journal for pastors. Each issue works to equip and encourage biblical thinking among pastors for the purpose of helping them build healthy churches.

Is Church Matters just another 9Marks book?

No. It may look and feel like a book, but Church Matters is a journal with 1000 to 2000 word articles. The unique benefits to the journal format are at least three-fold for pastors: 

1. Range and specificity. The journal format allows 9Marks to treat in briefer compass a wider range of subjects than would often be considered for books (i.e., Christian Nationalism, Catholicity, Seasons in a Pastor’s Life etc.). Each issue treats a topic from dozens of different angles ranging from theology to practice. In short, journals cover more topics closer up and from many different angles. 
2. Written by practitioners. Each issue of Church Matters depends on the hard-won insights of 25-plus practitioner-pastors. This many trusted authors naturally means a diversity of perspectives due to geography, demographic, church context, and so forth. In short, the Bible’s authority provides unity of thought, while the variety of experiences offer a diversity of application.
3. Written for practitioners. 9Marks has always aimed to write for pastors. This is nowhere more clearly seen than in Church Matters. Whether covering foundational subjects like church membership or more time-sensitive topics like Christian Nationalism, each issue aims to equip, encourage, train, and support healthy pastoral ministry. In short, Church Matters is unique because it’s for pastors.

Volume VI: Polity - What It Is and Why It Matters

Polity is a clunky word. And whatever that word means, can it really be that important for Christian discipleship? 

A church’s polity is its governing structures. It concerns what makes a church a church and how it organizes itself. The trouble is, many churches today believe the Bible doesn’t say much about polity. Each church decides what works best for them. 

Yet this issue of Church Matters argues that Scripture does prescribe a polity and that man-made polity puts the gospel at risk. Polity is crucial for Christian discipleship because it specifies our individual responsibilities to one another. Not only that, biblical polity protects and promotes the gospel. 

Are you interested in the holiness of the saints as well as the integrity and power of your church’s witness? Then you might attend to your church’s polity.