Hey Everyone,
I think its time to officially begin the discussion about the name of our church. Last year, when we went through our 2007 goal setting process, many of you were asking the question, is heartland.k10 going to be our name forever? As we have discussed for the past few months, i think its time for us to figure out who God has called us to be, not just keep the model of 'reproducing heartland'. So...that probably means it makes sense to create a new name for our church. I'm actually really excited about this possibility and hope we can find a name that really articulates something about who we want to be as a church community.
So...let the 'name that church' contest begin. Here are a few phrases/ideas that we have been discussing at the JOhnny's discussions that really are relevant:
NT Wright Phrase: putting the world to rights. God is at work (and we are called to join him) in this putting the world to rights.
Mission Church, church being about the 'mission of God' partering with him in that.
So, let the ideas flow!!!
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"Compassion Community Church"
Just something that's been rolling around my head.
You know, when we started talking about the idea of renaming our church about 6 months ago, it started because we thought that just keeping heartland's name forever didn't seem like it was the best option. The more we've talked about it, the more people have gotten excited about a name that actually means something to us as a church. So, here are a few possible names that i like, any thoughts on any of these?
Restoration Church. This was actually Kristen Suttle's idea, and as of right now, i think it's my favorite. it really connects with the idea of 'putting the world to rights' and partnering with God in that process, bringing restoration to the world around us.
Missio Dei. (Latin for Mission of God). Similar to restoration, this is about the mission of GOd in the world. that is what we need to be about as a church.
Pilrimage. I love the idea of going on a journey together as a church community.
Journey. See above, going on a journey.
Awaken Church. Spiritual Awakening anyone?
Gateway. I like the image of opening up a new path for people.
Let me know what you think about these!
All good....how about:
Lineage Fellowship
Generation Dei
[Re]Generation
OOOOOOOOO! I like (Re)Generation and Restoration. I like the concept of Missio Dei, but think it might be a hard one having to explain what it means versus people just getting it.
Hate to throw the business/marketing angle into this discussion, but I think we have to consider how we plan to put the name out there...as part of the process of deciding what it should be.
For example, Restoration Church is a beautiful concept, but too close to the Restoration Hardware name for me.
Since we get the opportunity to "start over" the more orginal the better.
Make the name unique, and we "own" it. Tell people what we are about in our name and they'll remember it.
How about focusing our name on what it is we do best as a church; the music and the people?
I hate to say it - but I am with Laura - love the idea of Restoration Church - but my immediate thought was Restoration Hardware. Also - is it too similar to "Rez West"? If they weren't right over at PRT it probably wouldn't be any big deal.
Gateway - I think of computers - which everyone I know that has had a Gateway computer has had issues...
Pilgrimage jumps out at me.... I kinda like that one...not only do I agree with what Kevin said about us doing a journey together. It brings to me an image of the Pilgrims or Quakers - people that were simple and not so caught up in the world. I definitely vote for trying not be be so much "of the world".
I guess I'll rock the boat a bit. I am all for changing our name, but I feel like we are putting the cart before the horse. I don't understand the rush. Seems like we are trying to come up with a name before we know exactly what we want our mission as a church to be. It's like trying to name a product before the product even exists. It's like we are more worried about the packaging than the actual content inside the package. I think if we put all our energy into the content of the package first the name will become obvious. Hope I haven't ruffled too many feathers.
For some time now I've been thinking about names for our church that might be meaningful. Here are a few of the ones I've come up with and some of the reasons I like them:
/// Mission Gathering ///
I like this name because it centers our identity in the mission of God. It acknowledges that it is the mission of God that calls us into being as a church.
/// Missio Dei ///
I think the Latin is intriguing and has a poetic/artistic bent which suits our church. The mission language goes with the explanation above.
/// Love of God Church ///
When I visit with friends about what they've learned about our faith or how they've experienced God since they've been a part of our fellowship, experiences of God's love seems prevalent.
/// Emmaus Road Church ///
I love the story of Christ on the Emmaus Road. I like this metaphor for church because it was a conversation between fellow travelers who are being led by Christ. It seems to be a biblical picture for who we really are as a church.
/// Hope Community Church ///
I just like this because hope is a good thing and something that Christ affords to the Christian. I also think that our church is a very hopeful place.
/// Trinity Fellowship ///
I like this name because it is rooted in the nature of God. God, in God's essence, is a community - three persons, one nature. I like this name because it acknowledges our God & alludes to the communal nature of the church.
/// Mercy Fellowship ///
I like this name because mercy is one of the things that marks our church, possibly more than any other church I've been a part of.
Those are my favorites, here are a few others, some have already been mentioned:
- Restoration Church
- New Life Fellowship
- Church of the Beloved
- Olathe Christian Fellowship
That's where I am right now. Peace everybody!
-tim
Wow...love the Emmaus Road Church name. Really original...has depth in the meaning...and I've never heard anything else like it before.
Plus, the meaning stays relevant no matter what "road" our church is taking...even if that road evolves over time.
Tim...what is the correct pronunciation? I couldn't find it in the dictionary.
Since I haven't been around that long, I have a question: Has k10 ever considered affiliating with a denomination? I ask because it seems like becoming part of a denomination would help provide the structure, vision, and backbone k10 needs. Some of the questions being asked on this blog are things that others have hashed through for thousands of years in order to come up with denominational position statements. Just wondering what the thoughts are on this...
Adrienne
Okay, I have to agree with my wife on this one. Right now I'm not feeling poetic or moved or awakened or anything. Actually I'm peeved because I wrote everything I wanted to say in a post, it flowed out of me and when I went to post it I lost the entire thing. Here's what it said in a nutshell. I believe that if we first identify and set out on our "mission" in the community that God will bless us with what we should call it. It feels like we are in a rush to "identify" ourselves or our cause when it doesn't seem apparent to all of us what that actually is. Beyond that I said that I see myself as an utter failure in God's eyes (which is my normal state anyway) for my service to the community in which reside. I pay good lip service to what I might actually do but really, what have I done? I have yet to do anything that takes me anywhere outside my comfort zone, anything that tests my will to carry out God's will. How can I set the world to rights when I feel like I haven't even set one thing right in the community where I live? I'm not against renaming it, I just think as my wife put it, we are putting the cart before the horse. I hope no one is offended by this opinion. It is certainly not my intention. I love this church, it's members and it's leaders.
Chuck
Some really creative options to think about.....I think that the name of our church is important, and yet what we are about is more important (as Karen eluded to)...... Having said that, I'm totally into changing our name as soon as possible....It's not something that directly effects the resources we put into the church so let's do this.....What is our essence....and how can we communicate that through a meaningful and memorable name. Really like the idea of Journeying, Wayfaring.....
Some additional ideas:
Legacy chapel...What we are about right now will have a truly lasting effect, etc....
Christ or Faith Fellowship....As we've discussed, "an authentic community of faith"....
Wayfarers Chapel....We are all in this journey together...."come ye thirsty...weak and wounded, sick and sore.."
Emanation Church...def.: "flow out, arise, proceed," Don't we want to first of all FLOW OUTSIDE OF OURSELVES, ARISE AND GO TO JESUS, and MOVE FORWARD IN OUR WALK..??
What do you think...?
I really like Emmaus Road Church and Mercy Fellowship. Nothing more profound to say here. I just really like the meaning behind these.
I really am drawn to the name Emmaus Road. In this story Jesus appeared to the travelers but they did not recognize him. It was not until he sat and broke bread with them that thier eyes were opened. What a great image for our church and the direction that we are headed. To be recognized by our actions more than our words.
I had another idea this morning. What about something with "kingdom of God," or "Kingdom." Here are a few options, but it feels to me like there might be another "kingdom" option I've not come up with yet.
- Kingdom of God Church
- Kingdom of God Fellowship
or my favorite
- Kingdom Fellowship Church
It's my favorite because our initials would be KFC...hehe
Here's the reason I started to go this way in my mind. I read this quote this morning. It said, "It's possible to have a faith that is borne out of a desire to be part of God's work in the world and not out of a desire to avoid hell."
John 15:5-17 tells us we're to be not merely servants of God, but friends of God. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," it says. John's telling us that friends of God lay down their lives for God - they don't just use faith as a way to punch their ticket for heaven. This idea emphasizes that winning heaven is not our ultimate concern, but being faithful to God in the moment is.
I remember the first summer we started meeting out at Heritage church. We went through "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard chapter by chapter. I think that we've always been rooted in Kingdom of God theology. That is a big part of our foundation.
Can someone please explain to me the urgency of changing our name? I am really struggling here.
Hey Everyone,
thanks for all the comments/ideas/feedback. Let's keep it going. Karen, i wanted to respond to your last question, on why we are wanting to change our name in the first place. I hope this is helpful in continuing the dialogue about why we are doing this.
The main reason i feel like a name change is in order is that i love the idea of having a name that really means something to us as a community. When we started this church, we were a random group of poeple that we're simply trying to reproduce what happened at heartland community church. So we just kept the name and plugged on the highway.
Now that we are a few years into it, it seems like we are starting to discover more about who we are and who God is calling us to be, and i would love to find a name that could reflect that.
That's my main motivation, finding a name that means something to us and that tells a story of what we are trying to be about.
Also, it just seems like heartland.k10 is a little confusing. It's the same name (heartland) of so many other churches, the k10 thing is confusing to people, and ultimately, we could find something way more meaningful that heartland.k10.
Those are my thoughts, hope that helps.
Oh yeah, and i thought of another suggestion:
The Church Formally Known as Heartland.k10 church.
Good stuff Kevin. I also appreciate the feedback, Karen. Thanks for pushing us on this. I think that I wasn’t connecting with the idea that changing our name might appear to be an urgent thing, or that it might seem as though we’re rushing into something. I think a little background might help.
This is just my recollection of how things went, clear back in 2002. Our church’s first name was “The K-10 Project,” which is what Mac called it at inception. I heard him say once that he didn’t really think about it, it was just name he put on the original file folder that contained his paper scribblings about the idea of planting a church out here. During the early days when Mac, Kevin, and I were planning we began to refer to it has Heartland K-10/Lawrence. The Lawrence part just sort of dropped off for ease (it has now become its own church, Vintage Church, which is incredible). The three of us began to refer to it has Heartland K-10 almost without really thinking about it critically. The name just sort of stuck in the early stages & Nate Hardin changed the way we wrote it from “Heartland K-10” to “heartland.k10” when he designed the brand. We talked about other names in the beginning but just never pulled the trigger on changing the name.
Personally, I’ve always been a little dissatisfied with our name and have consistently heard the critiques of it from other folks in our community throughout the course of the past few years. The formal conversation about changing our name has been at least a year old and the informal conversation has always been around. It was a part of the goals discussion in late 2006 and was part of what the advisory team recommended we consider for 2007. I think that might be why it doesn’t feel urgent to me so much as it just feels like the right time. If it feels rushed it’s because we haven’t communicated well enough about the ongoing discussion. Sorry if it feels like that’s the case.
My critiques of our current name would be: It’s confusing to folks who don’t know who we are because it doesn’t sound like a church. (As a K-Stater, I always cringe during football broadcasts when I hear agricultural seed commercials for “Heartland SX42 Corn Hybrid – for better yields”) It doesn’t have any significant spiritual meaning as it is really a regional/highway reference amalgam. It is derived from Heartland Community Church and isn’t something we really chose as much as something we inherited. There are already at least 2 churches in Olathe with “heartland” in the name besides our parent church. I have yet to talk to someone who really loves the name.
My hopes for a new name would be that: It would be less confusing and help delineate us as a church. It would be meaningful and serve to portray something of our mission and purpose. It would be chosen by us something that we come to on our own – something we desire for ourselves to be called. It would be different from heartland alleviating confusion between us and other “heartland” churches. Finally, that it would be something that we all end up really loving – even if it is a little weird to us at first.
I’ve talked with a couple of my friends in ministry who have renamed their churches before. One pastor told me that many of their folks really didn’t like the old name. In her context the new name was very welcome. Another pastor told me that they brainstormed, hashed and rehashed name ideas. Once he had to sort of say “Ok, we’re stopping the discussion and here’s the name we’re going with,” some people loved it, but a lot of people didn’t like the name they chose at first. But over time they grew to love the name and have genuine affection for it. In both cases the long term success of the name has been the fact that it is something which describes them as a community and something meaningful to them that they chose for themselves.
Hope that helps! Thanks again for pushing us…pushing is good!
-t
Kevin--I understand why we need to change our name & am in total agreement with that. What I am struggling with is the urgency in which everyone feels to do that. How can you name something if you don't know what it is going to look like yet?
I guess I just feel like we need to tend to the "heart" (our mission) of the church before we concern ourselves with its outer "appearance" (the name). I really don't think God is as concerned about the name of our church as much as He is about our mission...how we plan to bring Him glory & further His Kingdom as His humble servants. To me it feels like we are getting caught up in what the outside of our house is going to look like when we should be more concerned with what is actually going on on the inside...and that is the hard stuff...the get your hands dirty stuff...the stuff that will truly bring God glory & further His Kigdom.
Maybe at this point we should be focusing our energies on what our mission is going to look like rather than worry about what the world should call us. I just sense that we may have our priorities mixed up a bit.
I have to say I agree with Karen on wondering why there seems to be such an urgency to change. I guess I have just looked at it as a name, not a definition of who we are.
If we are looking for names to define who "we" are as an individual church, I love Tim's idea of Hope Community Church and Mercy Fellowship. I agree, I believe our church is full of Hope, Mercy and also Compassion (Kerrie's).
I like the idea of Outreach and Peace, along with the others mentioned above. Even though we are not going to advertise /promote being a seeker church (at least that is my understanding), I do believe we have always been an open door for those searching for a safe and friendly place to start. I feel, whatever the final name is, yes, it needs to be very meaningful but I think more importantly easily grasped.
If we want someone to hear/read our name and get a feel for who we are, some of the names will be a stretch for those "seekers" or new Christians out there I think.
I hope all this makes sense and isn't as jumbled as I think it is!
I agree with Wendy that we need a name that can be understood from the outside. Words like: Hope, Mercy and Compassion are recognized and desired by all and are a direct reflection of Jesus' character.
Jodi B here...I'm not a Google blogger, so I'm coming up as anonymous. I almost didn't put anything on here because I haven't been to any meetings at Johnny's, so I may have missed relevant information that would change my opinion. BUT here goes anyway: I can't believe I'm saying this as a marketer, but I think we're overthinking this whole thing. I feel like our mission is simple: love God, love & serve each other. Now, the STRATEGY in which we do these things may differ from other places, but our mission and "who we are" should be the above. That's what we believe a church should do, right? I don't think people pick a church because of the name. They go because they are in invited, know someone, stumble upon it or because they've heard about it. They stay because they are growing and because of the people. I'm not saying the name isn't important, but it just seems like we're spending a lot of effort on something that doesn't really further the Kingdom one way or the other. I'm all for people giving input, but you could take our group of people and say we're called "Mickey Mouse" and I would still come. Honestly, we're probably not going to find a name that isn't already used somewhere- maybe even in KC. So, our uniqueness has to come from the group of people God has called to be in our community and how we love and care for each other. Ok, I"m done.
If you can't hear it, I'm applauding Jodi's comments.
Granted that no name is going to be totally original…granted that there are some very simple ways to talk about mission, but I'm not sure I'm ready to say it's a waste of time to consider how we articulate our mission. I don’t think I would say that it is over thinking to consider carefully what we call ourselves and what that might say about who we are and what we feel our role in the kingdom might be. I think it is an essential conversation for any church. I tend to think that language is important. The words we agree upon to describe our church and our mission are significant, both to us as we continue to build identity and to those who encounter our church from our surrounding culture who have no real sense of who we are yet.
Again, I would stress the idea that this isn't an urgent matter – we’ll take as long as we need to take. But let’s not make it unimportant. We're not in a hurry to change our name to meet some arbitrary deadline. This discussion has been ongoing for many months, even years. And the discussion about mission is something we’ve been involved with since the very start. I'd be reticent to say that this is something we just started this summer. It’s a conversation that has gone on for years which is culminating in this season. And it's something that, once you've started, sort of never ends throughout the life of the church as the church grows and matures as a body.
One more thing about naming and mission, I don’t think this discussion is about trying to market our church, create brand loyalty or spark church growth. I think this discussion is about trying to understand God’s mission to the world & how we are called to participate. The pressure isn't on us, this is God's show. God has invited us to join the mission. This should be fun! We’re not having enough fun here! I say we have more fun! God’s mission is exciting! God’s given us the freedom to participate in his project of putting the world back together again, that rocks! I think having an open-ended conversation about how that is going to happen is a thrilling thing to be a part of.
I agree with Tim regarding how important it is to have a mission. While Jesus was here on earth he knew where he was going, what his plan was, and how he was going to get there. He then invited others on the journey, teaching them every step of the way. Yes, he had to draw close to his Father to re-evaluate sometimes, but he knew what he came here to do. He had a bulls-eye of showing people compassion, mercy, and truth and eventually dying for his cause.
On another note, I've been thinking about the discussion last night quite a bit today and there seems to be a split between what it means to follow Christ. Does it mean having a great service on Sunday mornings that everyone feels comfortable bringing friends to or "getting our hands dirty" for poor and oppressed people? Maybe both? I'm all for representing all sides of God, but I tend to lean more toward the idea that if Jesus was 90% about compassion then we should be too. Compassion for others IS the gospel---unpacked, real, and lived out. I'm having a hard time understanding the other viewpoint that wants to make things about Sunday mornings and just our community. Please feel free to explain...I hope I'm open to hearing the other side and would love to keep discussing. -Adrienne
PS-Jodi, Mickey Mouse Church would be fun.
I would like to comment on the name change first of all. I agree with Tim that
this has been in the works for along time and it needs to happen. It needs
to happen because our name does not say anything about who we are (as we
have already talked about on this blog) I am wondering if some of the
resistance to the name change is because there are lots of things changing
or evolving all at the same time. If there was not the shift towards
compassions and to try and figure out whom we are as a church would this be
such a big deal? If happened six months ago when it was an ordinary time
would that of been different?
Like Adrienne (sorry to piggy back-haha) I to have been thinking about the
last meeting at Johnny’s quite a bit. I had to decompress before I could get
my thoughts in order about what I thought. So, here it goes and please
understand I know that we are wrestling through who we are as a church and
nothing is definite. With that being said I whole heartily believe that
those who think Sunday morning is church are missing the big picture….Sunday
morning to me is a self-fulfilling time for me to be with God…for me to get
in a place of worship and focus on nothing else but the God I love and to
re-center for the days ahead. Sunday morning is also is a time for community
to catch up with friends about life and what is going on….Sunday morning is
called church but I do not think it is church. How can church happen inside
of four walls? If all we ever do is go to ONW on Sunday mornings and fill
ourselves and then leave until the next week, how is that furthering God’s
kingdom? How is that letting people see Jesus? Please do not hear me say
that Sunday morning is not important, it is very important for followers of
Christ to be together, pray, to share in community and all worship together.
But…
Our church is not reaching the poor and oppressed in our community. We have
definitely made some steps in getting there, but what has been bothering me
about that is at the last meeting there was a comment made that we are there
for the poor, Hispanics and less fortunate and they would be welcomed if
they came. That is true, however, did Jesus just sit on top of a mountain
outside of the poor neighborhoods and wait for them to come to him? No, he
was with them, intermixed in their lives never on the outskirts where they
would be timid to come and interact with him. We cannot expect the
Hispanic/poor community of Olathe to come to our church and then we sit back and
say, “Well, they are invited” when we have done nothing to make them even
think we care.
I think we will experience what I think church is by standing next to the poor and oppressed or whoever needs to hear that God loves them. I think we will experience church by creating opportunities of service for those in need. To deliver food, clothing, school supplies…whatever the case may be. I think in those acts people will see Jesus and see that the people that attend k10 or (whatever the name is) care about them.
I received this message in an email, I think it says what is on my heart better than anything I could write and I am feeling very convicted about what God has been calling me to do.
Get Your Head In The Game
by Jon Walker
“But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.” (Romans 13:11 MSG)
A few years ago, a movie called “Hoosiers” told the story of a small-town basketball team that miraculously made it to the state championship. During an intense game, the team’s coach sent a player from the bench into the game, but before going out on the court the boy, a devout Christian, knelt to pray.
And he continued to pray, delaying the game on the court. Finally, the coach leaned down and said, “Son, God wants you out on the court now.”
Some of us are like that – we’re still praying for God to strengthen us for
the game, when God wants us to get into the thick of the game, promising
that he will be our strength.
The truth is, time is running out for you to fulfill your life mission!
Even if Jesus doesn’t return for another 100 years, you only have a limited
time to complete your life mission. Your days on earth are numbered, and you
can only share your faith with others while you’re here in this world. For
that matter, you can only share your faith with others while they’re still
in this world.
Back in the 19th-century, a missionary to China named Hudson Taylor said he
was talking to a Buddhist leader, one who’d become a follower of Christ. The
former Buddhist asked Taylor how long the gospel had been known in England.
“For hundreds of years,” Taylor said.
The new convert began to cry. He said, “For hundreds of years! My father
sought the truth for more than 20 years, and he died without finding it. Why
didn’t you come sooner?”
And that question burned in Hudson Taylor’s soul as he thought about the
millions of Chinese who’d never heard of Jesus Christ.
Why didn’t you come sooner?
My vote is for Emmaus Road Church. I checked the Kansas Secretary of State’s office and it doesn’t look like anyone has taken the name yet (although there are about 5 Kansas churches that incorporate the word “Emmaus.”)
I enjoyed attending the discussion group at Johnny’s several weeks ago. The idea of being a part of a church that measures itself on something other than the number of attendees strikes true for me. Tim mentioned that we should be a church that would leave a void in the community if it disappeared. How many churches can make that claim? Can we? I like the idea of being a part of a church that measures its success by: the number of members who serve those who are hurting; that strives for the spiritual growth of its members; where the members gave away more money this year than they did the year before; being a community where the members exhibit grace and love towards one another; and a place where the greatest measure of our success is displayed at our baptism service. It is great that some of these concepts can be measured by objective standards.
I’d like to digress on one topic that is important to me. While I am passionate about the idea of social justice, I think it is of vast importance to emphasize the fact that within the church the desire for social justice is the result of a legitimate love for lost people. I am convinced that God is more concerned about restoring his relationship with us on an individual level first. As we draw closer to him, our hearts break as we look at the poor, AIDS patients, unwed mothers, immigrants and others in need. We being to see those people in the way he does, which is something much greater than feeling sorry for them.
If we do not begin with loving those people and serving those people out of obedience to God and letting God do with us and our service as he pleases, then we do not honor God. Instead, we have relegated those who are in need to the being recipient of a program, a system, a thing. They in turn are reduced to being a thing, not an individual who is loved by God. We have the opportunity to be a conduit of letting God love those people through us. If we do not begin with loving those in need, it would be better if we volunteered with the United Way or some other quasi-governmental agency that is efficient with systems and programs. Please understand I am not saying that those groups are not doing good; but, we are a church and our primary concern is with honoring God in what we do and how we do it. How we do it is just as important as doing it.
If we embark upon the journey of committing our church to compassionately serving those in need, we must be equally and simultaneously committed to loving those who we will serve before we serve them.
Todd Jones
In the discussion we had at Jonny's and last week at church, I was truly convicted about the blessings I've been given and how so many others are struggling. This is not an easy idea - to be a church who stands on compassion - but I do believe that in our deepest heart of hearts that is where God speaks to us, to our sense of being and purpose in this life. My friends from California moved to the East Coast to plant a church and they called it "Storehouse". They were a rag tag group of believers, much like us. They explain on their website that a Storehouse was a place where kings would store food in preparation for times of famine. When a famine hit, the doors of the Storehouse would be opened wide, providing much needed resources for all people. Their desire as a church is to be that to their community, in a spiritual and a physical way. I think if we look to scripture for what exemplifies the nature of our church, we'll get our name. I'm leaning towards Emmaus Road.
Hello all,
I just wanted to add my few cents to this discussion. I just wanted to say, that I believe myself to be a believer and a follower. I read the Bible and I have fellowship with many believers. However, in my knowledge, I had no freaking clue what EMMAUS road was, though it sounds interesting. The general population (the ones we are trying to reach) would not understand this concept- it would take a lot to explain, not to mention how the heck would you market this name? I think that we are a young, open, new church. Emmaus, in my opinion, is a theologian name- I am not that, I am a common person who want to connect to a name I understand. Also, look at our breakaway church- VINTAGE that is a simple clear name. It explains there meaning, without explanation. That is what makes a great name.
I mean if we are throwing out names what about ICHTHUS or heck lets just be the symbol. I mean, how many people know how to say it correctly and know what it is? I do, but that is because I found the thing interesting and I love stupid trivia. (if you don’t know it is the Christian fish).
I again, think the name should be young, and express in a few short words, if not one, what we are doing. So, maybe we should start there. There should be no explanation needed. I hope for the community sake (the current church goers) that this decision is not decided by the core group of people and open to a vote of the church group- once the names have been narrowed. Or we could have a marketing group assist us in this decision when the time is correct after other issues have been identifies, I do believe that they can also help with the mission, values, and purpose.
In light of what Kevin talked about last Sunday (7/15), and some of the directions that our church seems to moving (missions / compassion, evangelism, and discipleship/personal growth), I feel that Hope Community Church is a fitting name.
The word "hope" has so many positive meanings. It's interpretation offers something to look forward to with confidence and trust; and the word is used in the NIV Bible nearly 200 times. The word "Community" after it, definitely denotes what our church is all about. There is not a church with the same name anywhere in KS or near KC.
-Jeff-
Open Door Fellowship
Revelation 3:20
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
Kevin - I assume you are the moderator and get to decide which posts "make it". I feel a bit like an univited guest and realize I am not in the leadership circle, so my thoughts may be less weighty ... however, here are my reasons for the Open Door suggestion:
Think about a boss' open door policy - the message is, "you are welcome here; you can feel free to share your ideas with me; we can work things out together; if you have a problem, I am here for you ..." The idea of being open coincides in my mind with being authentic; as well as being a place where people can experience God and we won't tell them how that should look in a legalistic way. Not that we don't have absolutes, but that as a non-denominational church, we don't force on people any outward rules (no drinking, you must kneel to pray, you must speak in tongues ...).
There is a church in Minnesota called the church of the Open Door ... but this came to me before I googled that.
Anyway, it's simple, could easily be understood, and think of the ease of coming up with a graphic! :-)
Barb Martin
We might want to change the title of this blog to name that "church" and not "chuch" =0)
A few of us went out last weekend and were just throwing around some of the existing names.
Since our country is SO into acronymns these days, we thought... how about Restoration Almighty Church of Kansas, or R-A-C-K for short (not in association with Hooters)? :-)
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