Church Planting Chronicles #1- Choosing A Name

Well, as has been previously said, I’m part of a church plant now.  There’s a million-and-one things to do, and everything needs to be done right now.

Preparing Bible studies.

Working on doctrinal statements.

Establishing a core group.

Training leadership.

Advertising.

Getting a website.

Finding out exactly where you go to buy communion supplies and wondering why you’re not milking that cash cow instead of church planting.

The list goes on and on.

But, one of the first questions one gets asked is “So what’s it called?”

Everyone wants to know the name, among several other things (location, when it’s starting, will you serve coffee, what time will the coffee be available, will you provide environmentally friendly coffee cups, will you provide liquid creamer or that horrible whitener stuff, will the coffee supplies be paid for from the general church fund or will it be a separate and independent budget line item, will you use dolphin-safe, free-range, cruelty-free, fair-trade coffee or whatever large evil brand their old church used that owned by the Illuminati and will be used to fund the purchase of guillotines in order to behead believers in the tribulation, etc.)

And, as most people know, there’s many types of church names:

There’s the “obviously denominational” name – Second Baptist Church, Free Willy Lutheran Church, Twilight Years United Church, Anything Community Church (where everyone’s name is suspiciously “Thiessen” or “Friesen” or “Penner” and they’re not fooling anyone), Calvary Chapel, etc.

That’s not really on the list of options though since the church I’ll be involved with will be non-denominational (part of the independent Bible Church movement, for those who are interested in such things).

There’s the “hobby horse doctrine” name – Faithful Word AV1611 Vineyard Church, Free Grace Methodist Church, Sovereign Grace Community Church, Dispensational Premillenial Presbyterian Church, etc.

This one isn’t really on the list because “Whole Counsel of God Church” or  “Make Mature Believers Church” just don’t really roll off the tongue.

There’s the “too cool for words” name – Relevant, Happy, Southshore, Safari, Tapestry, etc.

This one really isn’t on the list either because I’m not cool enough to do this sort of church.  I wear a tie when I preach, I think Starbucks is a ripoff and I don’t even own a single Apple product…and I also think pretty much all these churches are generally obnoxiously shallow too.  People who have to try to “be real” or “relevant” are generally horribly artificial and worship secular culture as much as Jesus.

There’s the “location mentioned in scripture” name – Mars Hill Church, Solomon’s Porch Church, Mount of Olives Church, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Calvary Bible Church, etc.

This one is kinda on the radar, but all the awesome names are already taken!  All that’s left is “Caves of Mamre Church”, “Ur of the Chaldeans Church”, “Plains of Megiddo Church” and a few other equally gong ringing options.

So, I was thinking tonight.

I want to have a name that communicates the essence of the church. (like “Jesus” or “Grace”)

I want to have a name that is memorable.

I want to have a name that speaks to the cultural context in which we live.

I want to have a name that will endure and not be the source of regret in a decade.

And tonight, I came up with a perfect name for a Western Canadian church that’s down-to-earth, clearly proclaiming the gospel message and will be here for at least six seasons:

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Does anyone think I’ll have copyright issues with this?

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “I really need to learn photoshop” Unger