Character Of The Church

What makes a church a church? Is it “where two or three are gathered”? Is it worship and a sermon on Sunday? Does it require structure and leadership?

In The Character of the Church, pastor and author Joe Thorn dispels confusion by describing the five elements of a biblical church. Concise, accessible, and historically informed, it teaches God’s design for church so you know what to look for in one-or even how to lead one.

Useful for training in membership classes, discipleship groups, elder boards, and even devotional reading, Thorn’s The Character of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Readers will not simply be informed, but led to a deeper appreciation of the church of God and its essential marks-faithful preaching of God’s word, rightly administered sacraments, biblically formed and functioning leadership, grace-filled discipline, and shared mission of the church.