All in Favor of a New Church Name?
Our game plan for changing the name of our church.
Steve Tomlinson
October 1, 2005
One Monday morning at staff meeting, Jerry, our pastor of student ministries, told us that it had happened again. A high school student had invited a friend to the church youth group, and the friend was planning to come, until he found out it was at a "Baptist" church. Then he backed out because he felt his parents would disapprove. This had become an ongoing problem. Nassau County, just outside of New York City, is about 55 percent Catholic, 25 percent Jewish, and the remaining 30 percent covers everything from any world religion to atheism. In our neighborhood the word "Baptist" is met with complete ignorance or is considered a form of extremism. The high school student was open about it, but we knew that for countless others, even if they didn't say so, our name was an obstacle. When I was called to be senior pastor of Manhasset Baptist Church in the fall of 2002, I realized that changing the name of the church would need to be one of my early priorities, if we were to reach beyond the boundaries of Manhasset and beyond the boundaries of those already positively inclined toward Baptists. But in a congregationally governed church, it wasn't my decision alone. I needed to proceed wisely and carefully. I waited until the third elders meeting to broach the subject. While none of the elders felt our current name was an asset to accomplishing our church's mission, some were concerned about the timing of any change. We agreed to wait one year before going public with any recommended name change. That way the congregation could get to know and trust my leadership. In hindsight this proved wise because building relationships is crucial to any bold leadership decision. Many people, because they know you, will give you the benefit of ...
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