In doing so it’s possible (in theory) to come up with an ‘average’ profile of a Premier Christianity reader.    

So…if you are reading this magazine, you are probably a Christian who attends church at least once a week (probably an evangelical one, of CofE, Baptist or independent variety) and are quite likely to be involved in helping there too. You have a job and are aged 50 or over. You enjoy reading Christian books, listening to Christian music and occasionally tune in to our sister station Premier Christian Radio. Oh…and you are ever so slightly more likely to be a man than a woman.  

Did I guess right? Of course, that may not describe you at all, and the survey also confirms that our readership is as diverse as the UK Church itself.

You like different kinds of articles and varied perspectives. You love reading faith-affirming testimonies (see p22 for Sally Phillips’ brilliant conversion story) but also like to be challenged by theological questions (you might like Faith Explored on p58). You also enjoy being kept abreast of church news (p8) and our book and CD reviews remain very popular (p65).  

Among a number of highlights from the past year, you particularly appreciated our culture article on Star Wars by Jamie Cutteridge in January, Andrew and Rachel Wilson’s account of bringing up children with severe autism in November, and our ‘Open Letter to the UK Church’ series (written this month by Debby Wright, national leader of the Vineyard UK and Ireland. See p48).

You’ve also asked for more Bible teaching, life application and articles on Church trends. We’ll aim to do that. We were also delighted to hear that you are enthusiastic about the current look and feel of the magazine. For that, a debt of gratitude goes to our designer Malky Currie who continues to provide thought-provoking and attention-grabbing designs for every issue. This month’s front cover for Sam Hailes’ article on urban church planting (p32) is another mini-masterpiece.

Finally, I was grateful to learn that a whopping 95% of readers would recommend Premier Christianity magazine to their friends and family.  

It’s a joy to be able to report that the magazine continues to buck the trend of print journalism in the UK as we’ve seen our readership continue to rise over the last 12 months. Thank you so much for choosing us as your monthly guide to Christian faith, life and culture. Stay with us and we’ll do our best to keep informing, encouraging and challenging you in your everyday walk.

 PS Congratulations to David Wilson who has won a box full of books, DVDs and CDs in our reader survey prize draw