Question For Magazine Editor

Well, Laura,
When they ask for a proposal, they are simply saying that they don't have the time to read every freelance article that comes their way. It is good that they actually accept freelance work, which is what you would be. A good number of magazines have their own writing staff. The proposal is simply a brief synopsis of what the article would be about, in your case - ministry writings. This allows them to quickly read through what you are offering and giving you a "yes" or "no" so that neither your nor their time is wasted.
When they request the manuscript, they'll almost always tell you exactly how they want it. I wouldn't worry about that. Most prefer a Word doc via email while other prefer it to be sent snail mail. If they want your work, they're already on the hook. They'll tell you the rest - no problem.
Best of luck. I hope this helped.

Kindest Regards,

Dylan Emerick-Brown
Editor-in-Chief, Splash of Red; FreelanceEdit.com

By 'proposal' they mean 'query letter'. This has been standard for magazine writing for a very long time. You can search AW and the wider 'net to find tons of information about how to write non-fiction query letters. Good luck!

When it's magazines the query letter is called a pitch.

Basically, they're asking you to pitch them an idea.

If you get rejected, go back and pitch them another idea. I get a lot of pitches I reject simply because I've either done the story, have commissioned something similar, or the idea isn't quite right. Often the writers then disappear and I never hear from them again. I didn't reject them, I rejected the specific idea!

Like always, check the guidelines. No, it shouldn't look like a book manuscript, check out the freelance section here, there is some great information about submitting to periodicals.