For the last month, Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church members have been expressing their love for the church.

Individuals are wearing stickers proclaiming, “I Love My Church” at Sunday services.

Associate pastor Ken Brown and Arlene Stewart explained that the campaign is to start an open conversation about “Why I love this church.”

The initial concept came after current and future church leaders attended a global leadership summit and decides what might be applicable to the local congregation.

“We’re in that place that I like to call the fertile void where we have had the past. We have gone through quite a bit of denominational angst and now, how do we move ourselves into our new direction?” said Stewart.

“It’s time for us to remember we’re here because of the people here,” she added. “The church is the people and Christ said to love one another.”

From a personal point, Stewart said she met her husband, James, at the church six years ago. She cooks at various church functions.

Stewart has been handing out the stickers for the past month. She greets people at the church entrance Sundays and asks them “Can I love on you today.”

People now approach her and Brown and ask for a sticker.

“When I saw people wanting a sticker, I thought it was very meaningful as a pastor. It showed that people care.”

“How do we turn love from a noun to a verb?” asked Stewart.

Church members have been asked to suggest three ways to express love for the church in the coming year.

“At some point, we transition from the initial conversation to manifesting it,” said Stewart.

“If this church wasn’t here, would anybody miss us? If not, you better start doing something now to leave a footprint,” said Stewart.

Pastor Bill Good will deliver a series of sermons on love and Biblical passages referring to love.

“God says love is the greatest thing we can do for one another, and then we’ll move it into talking about all the different ways you can show your love for this church by involvement, not just putting money into campaigns, while that’s important,” said Stewart.

Involvement can be as simple as stuffing church bulletins, greeting members at the door and accomplishing manageable tasks.