The book On Being Pentecostal is an excellent visitor gift for those first-time guests to Apostolic Pentecostal churches. “It can also be used as the basis of a short class to help newcomers understand the church or as a stand-alone book,” said Bro. Robin Johnston, editor-in-chief for Word Aflame Press. He co-authored the book with Bro. David K. Bernard, general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International. They decided there was a need for a book that discussed the beliefs and heritage of Oneness Pentecostalism.
Bro. Johnston explained, “I was a guest at one of our churches years ago and was given a small hardcover book written by Max Lucado. This was the standard practice of that church for all who visited. As a result, I began to consider developing a similar book that would tell the story of who we are. I floated the idea by Bro. Bernard. He agreed to write five chapters, and I wrote the other five. The talented Word Aflame Press team developed it into a unique and attractive product. In addition, Word Aflame created visitor information and follow-up cards that matched the book’s design. They also designed matching templates that can be downloaded so churches could make the book fit their local setting.”
Bro. Johnston described the book as a small book (127 pages) designed to give a brief introduction into what it means to be Oneness Pentecostal. He explained, “It contains ten short chapters that include our beliefs, our practices and highlight the stories of our heritage. We intentionally designed the book as a hardback, because we saw it primarily as a gift book. We felt the hardback format would be more attractive to visitors. To date, we have sold over 20,000 copies of the book. Because we print a large volume of books, the books are relatively inexpensive. If purchased by the case, they are $6.99 each. Stand-alone books are $9.99. Since the books are as inexpensive as they are, there are no plans to publish a soft cover edition.”
Many churches use it as part of their visitor follow-up program. One church licensed the content of the book and custom-designed its own visitor follow-up book. Bro. Johnston noted, “We continue to receive positive feedback and are in discussion about developing a leaders’ guide for churches that would like to use it for a classroom or small group setting for newcomers.”
On Being Pentecostal is available at www.pentecostalpublishing.com, and downloadable templates are free from that site.