\nBluegrass Baptist Church, KY. No bait-and-switch here. <\/strong><\/p>\n
But the question posed to me by this eager deacon is one I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard before. In fact, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d heard it several times recently\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit must be the question of the month. The question had to do about whether or not having the name of the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s denomination on its signage is a potential put-off for prospective members. You know where that kind of question most likely comes from: anxiety issues about numbers and\/or finances. And there are any umber of congregations that have dropped denominational identifiers as part of their strategic approach to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reaching\u00e2\u20ac\u009d potential members or target groups. You’ve probably got a few in your neighborhood, their names running the gamut from clever to cryptic (in my area we have The Church On the Way and Vantage Church). <\/p>\n
My response to that kind of question is three-fold. I usually ask, first<\/strong>, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the theology behind not putting your denominational affiliation on your signage?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Too many decisions in congregations are made from a pragmatic or marketing standpoint than from a theological or doctrinal position. Second<\/strong>, I raise the issue of identity integrity. If your congregation is Baptist, Methodist, Church of God, or whatever, why are you reluctant to identify yourself as such? I often suspect that congregations that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hide\u00e2\u20ac\u009d their denominational affiliation are engaging in a type of marketing bait-and-switch tactic for the sake of a larger \u00e2\u20ac\u0153market share\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in potential members (in other words, I think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something to be said for corporate self-definition). Third<\/strong>, my closing statement is along the line of, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really think what you call yourself really matters as much as how relevant you are, as a congregation, in the life of your members, prospective members, and in your neighborhood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n At one church consultation where the question of whether to change or keep the name of the church (and drop the denominational identification) I shared the following list as a way to begin that discussion with some humor. Reading over the list, maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wrong about my third point, maybe it does matter what you call yourself. <\/p>\n Here is a list of actual church names<\/em>: <\/p>\n On a related topic, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a link to church signs <\/a>and their sometimes creative messages. <\/p>\n A few weeks ago, during a visit to a local church, a deacon at that church cornered me and asked me one of those questions you know immediately is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153loaded.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Loaded questions are tricky to respond to honestly given that … Continue reading \n
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