Downloads

The following downloads are available on your computer by clicking the appropriate button or the image.   This will enable you to print out re:fresh notices etc. for display in your church.  

Items from our news and reviews pages may be copied for your church magazine but please acknowledge re:fresh books & christian resources.

New (2009) Landscape A4 publicity notice for display in churches and other venues. 
Click HERE or on image to download a pdf.

re:fresh books A4 publicity notice for display in churches
Click HERE or on image to download pdf

re:fresh books A5 publicity flyers (2 x colour0
Click HERE or on image to download pdf

Church information enquiry form to list your church on re:fresh books' website.  Click here to download form.

 Alpha products order form.  Click HERE 

Christianity Explored products order form.  Click HERE

Article to download Click HERE to download as a Word file

The following article has been produced for use in church magazines.  It applies to Christian bookshops generally - not just re:fresh - although the illustrations are from our own experience.   Please feel free to shorten or edit to suit your own needs but we would be grateful if you would acknowledge the source.  Do we need Christian Bookshops? Christian bookshops have seen depressed sales in recent months and several have closed.  Various reasons are given for this including the busy lives we all lead, the financial situation and an increasing tendency to buy books on the Internet … or is it that Christians are not reading Christian books?   Marguerite and David Williams of re:fresh books & christian resources in Tolworth make a plea for Christians to see their local Christian bookshop as a ministry - another arm of the churches' outreach into the community. Christian bookshops are a shop window for the Christian faith People who are apprehensive about going into a church, may be more comfortable with the familiar retail environment of a bookshop.  They can browse through Bibles and books looking for something that will meet their specific need without feeling threatened.  Sensitive shop staff can be on hand to offer assistance.  At re:fresh we have had some tremendous opportunities to talk to people and, where appropriate, point them to local churches or courses such as Alpha and Christianity Explored. An effective window display can speak to passers-by.   We had people respond emotionally to our ‘Amazing Grace’ window display.  At Christmas and Easter we endeavour to counter the general secularisation of the season by window displays that feature “The true story of Christmas/Easter”.   We have been delighted to overhear mothers talking to their children about the Christmas story as they looked at the crib scene. Christian bookshops are open when churches are closed Most Christian bookshops are open eight hours a day, six days a week – what an opportunity!   It is a privilege and a challenge to be available for people who have Spiritual and emotional needs or who just need somewhere to go either to be quiet or to find a sympathetic listener. These include people who are shopping, office workers on their lunch break and even people who have just visited a local undertaker.   There are also Christians who have problems they want to share with somebody who is outside their immediate church circle.  A cup of tea or coffee, a listening ear, and advice on a book that will help, can be a great comfort at times of need. Christian bookshops are an extension to local church ministries Many churches give generously to mission at home and overseas, others support relief agencies and other social projects.  But the local Christian bookshop is sometimes regarded as a ‘commercial’ venture rather than a mission that must make some sort of profit to survive.   Bookshops like re:fresh try to support the work of local churches – we can often negotiate competitive prices on bulk orders and give discount on purchases of teaching resources, publicity materials etc.   We have been thrilled to receive encouragement from customers telling us of conversations that played a significant part in their own Spiritual or emotional journey.  One man, whose wife regularly buys books from re:fresh, now prefers reading Christian books because they have helped him.   We encouraged one lady to visit a local church; we then learned that somebody who had been witnessing to her on the railway station had been urging her to go to the same church! An opportunity to browse and compare There is still no substitute for a real bookshop if you are looking for a book or commentary on a particular subject, or if you are just looking to see what is available.  You can browse and select the most appropriate title, helped, if necessary, by staff who are knowledgeable about their stock and passionate about their faith.  Re:fresh tries to live up to its name and offer a cup of tea or coffee to customers. Support it or lose it If this ministry is to continue, Christian bookshops need your business. A recent survey found that only 2% of Christians visited a Christian bookshop regularly.   Some buy their Christian books on the Internet, some rely on events like Spring Harvest and the Christian Resources Exhibition, others buy from secular bookshops … but many just don’t read Christian books! The increasing use of the Internet threatens all bookshops – Christian and Secular.  Users forget that they may have to pay carriage charges which will wipe out some, if not all, of the savings.  It is particularly disheartening when Christians play off their local Christian bookshop against the Internet, trying to get the price down, or even look at books in the bookshop and then go off and buy them on the Internet!   Finally, and most important, please pray for the ministry of Christian bookshops locally, nationally and worldwide. If you are interested in receiving regular e-news from re:fresh books & christian resources, including news of special offers and news for prayer and thanksgiving, please email shop@refreshbooks.co.uk with the message “please add to email list”.