How to organise magazines and tracts for preaching

Why keep magazines, tracts and cards apart?

When everything is loose in your bag, magazines bend, tracts get dog-eared and cards sink to the bottom. At the door or in the street it shows: you take a while to find what you wanted to offer, or what you hand over is not in good condition.

Sorting by type of publication solves both problems. Large items stay flat and protected, small ones stay to hand, and everything has a fixed place, so at a glance you know what you have left and what needs restocking.

How do you arrange tracts so you can find them quickly?

The most practical system is one compartment per tract. In a tract holder with an accordion interior, each divider creates a slot for a single title, and when you open it you see them all at once.

Our tract holders open like an accordion and close with an elastic band so nothing slips out inside your bag: the new one, 11 × 14 cm, has nine dividers sized for the new tracts, and the classic, 25.5 × 10.5 cm, adds two card pockets. With them, these habits look after themselves:

• Put the tracts you offer most at the front and the ones you use now and then at the back.
• If you preach in more than one language, keep a compartment for each language.
• Carry a few copies of each title and restock often: they stay flat and do not pile up.
• Keep contact cards and invitations in a place of their own, not mixed in with the tracts; the classic tract holder has two pockets for them.

How do you carry magazines without creasing them?

Magazines and larger brochures need a rigid surface. A covered board folder keeps them flat even in a full bag, and reinforced corners stop it losing its shape with use.

In our magazine folder, 19.5 × 26 cm, the four dividers sort magazines by topic or issue, and the plastic pocket holds loose sheets and notes for return visits. That way, details about the people you are calling back on stay separate from what you hand out.

What should you check before going out in the ministry?

Keeping your folder tidy is easier if you check it at the same time every week, for example the night before or just before leaving home. It takes five minutes:

• Take out anything creased or bent and replace it.
• Restock the tracts and magazines you will use most that day.
• Make sure your contact cards and invitations are in their place.
• Go over your notes for the return visits you have planned.
• Add a pen and close the folder with the band.

Which folder suits each way of preaching?

For house-to-house work, carrying both usually works well: the magazine folder in your bag and the tract holder in your hand. In public witnessing with a cart or display, the tract holder acts as a reserve for restocking and keeps cards to hand. For informal witnessing, at work or while travelling, the tract holder alone is enough; the classic one fits in a jacket pocket.

If you want both pieces in the same design, the matching set pairs a magazine folder and a tract holder covered in the same paper. Every model, size and price is in magazine and tract folders for preaching: they are handmade to order in about three weeks, with your name on the cover if you like, and ship anywhere in Europe from €5.