Capturing Faith: How to Research & Write a Local Church History

Christian writing has many positive aspects. You can inform, persuade and inspire. That is Christian writing at its finest. This book allows you to learn how to do all three by writing the history of your local church or another church in your area.

There are nearly 500,000 churches in the U.S. according to the Gallup organization, and virtually all could benefit from having their history documented.

This book provides step-by-step details for researching, writing and marketing a local church history. It is ideal for church volunteers or professional writers.

Capturing Faith: How to Research & Write a Local Church History is ideal for new Christian writers because they can write their first book for love or for money. The author provides details about how Christian writers can get a contract from a local church to write a history, and the steps needed to publish it.

Having the history of your local church in print is great as a fundraiser for local churches, and it is wonderful to have to have as a resource to share in your community. The author covers these topics and many more:

• Why a printed history is important to your local church

• How to get a contract from a church to write the book if you are a professional writer

• How to work with a committee if you are writing the book as volunteers

• How to get the support of your pastor and other church leaders

• How to do historical research

• How to conduct oral histories

• The steps in the writing process

• How to market your book to raise funds for church projects

• How to distribute the book in your community to gain visibility for for church

• How individuals can have an ongoing church history writing ministry Other resources included are:

• Oral history release form

• Details about how a book is structured

• Links to resources that will help you write a better church history.

A book that belongs on your book shelf and in every church library!

Donald L. Hughes has been a writer, editor and publisher for over 30 years.

He has covered stories in 31 countries as a journalist and has taught at colleges both in the U.S. and overseas. He is the editor of ChristianWritingToday.com.