Big mistake. Yes, some of the new church names are well
chosen and
creative. But passive uninformed possible "consumers"
should have
no voice in how a denomination identifies itself to the
world.
Baptists --in the examples in the article, anyway-- have
let others
define "Baptist" for them and, instead of making a serious
effort
to re-define the word, have simply caved-in to outside
opinion
based on nothing so much as ignorance.
How does doing that make good "marketing" sense ?
Billy
----------------------------------------
For some Baptists, the name of the
church is hindrance to saving souls
After 87 years, the University Baptist Church of Coral Gables
recently shed its name for something it felt was more forward
looking — Christ Journey.
It was following the lead of First Baptist Church of Perrine,
which dropped the name it had held for 89 years in favor of
Christ Fellowship.
Coral Baptist Church of Coral Springs relaunched itself in
2006 as Church By the Glades.
And First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale is now known as
“First Fort Lauderdale†in its new website. The word
‘Baptist’ is found in a faintly lettered tagline.
These South Florida churches are joining a growing number of
Southern Baptist congregations around the country that are
quietly moving away from their denomination’s historic
namesake — worried that it conjured up images of pipe
organs, narrow-mindedness or stuffy, formal services.
The reality, pastors say, is that many modern Baptist
churches mix their liturgy with rock bands and gourmet coffee,
and sermons are more likely to be about personal growth than
fire and brimstone.
While their approach to saving souls has kept up with the
times, some pastors feel the name has not.
“Baptist today has as many flavors as Baskin and Robbins ice
cream. It has no defined meaning, and where it does, no
positive meaning,†explained Bill White, Christ Journey’s
lead pastor. Ninety-three percent of his congregation voted to
change the name
.
Their restlessness isn’t new. The 168-year-old Southern
Baptist Convention — the country’s largest Protestant
denomination with some 46,000 cooperating U.S. churches and
over 4,800 field personnel worldwide — was asked to consider
changing its name at least seven times between 1965 and 2004,
said spokesman Roger Oldham.
Congregations have been concerned that their denomination’s
strict biblical interpretations of creation, women’s roles
and homosexuality have been politicized, even by their own
members.
In 2012— just as the SBC selected the Rev. Fred J. Luter as
its first African American president — the body allowed
churches to use an alternate name, Great Commission Baptists,
in place of ‘Southern,’ which conjured painful racial
memories and a regionalism that Oldham said member churches
had outgrown.
Southern Baptists can be found in every state and U.S.
territory, with most in the south and southwest. The Great
Commission name was at once global and unifying, evoking
Jesus’ instructions to his followers to go into the world
and make disciples by baptizing and teaching them.
Around the same time, the Baptist convention’s research
arm also undertook a study to look at how people reacted to
the word ‘Baptist.’
In the study, 44 percent of the participants said the words
Southern Baptist would negatively impact their decision to
join or even visit. The negative perceptions came mainly from
people with no church affiliation. For a denomination
committed to the directive, “Go and make disciples of all
nations,†that was not good news.
Robey Barnes, lead pastor of West Pines Community Church in
Pembroke Pines, an SBC member, compared the situation to
Kentucky Fried Chicken’s decision to drop its famous name in
the 1990s in favor of “KFC†— partly because of
consumers’ negative perceptions of fried foods.
But, Baptist denominations have always reinvented
themselves to reach people, he said.
“There was a day when the organ was the electric guitar and
drum set, and stained glass was as cutting edge as online
video.â€
If the traditional Baptist name no longer works, dropping it
is consistent with moves other denominations have made
throughout history, he said.
Some churches turn to consultants to help them rebrand
.
Alex Rodrigues, creative director of Broward-based Paradox
Design Studio, helped several churches freshen their images,
including Christ Journey and Church By the Glades
.
“There are conservative and not-conservative Baptist
churches,’’ Rodrigues said. “For example, some do and
some don’t limit women’s roles. Taking the name out
removes the confusion.â€
The brand also has a generational problem that many churches
face.
“We were dying,’’ said David Kling, who attends the
former Immanuel Presbyterian in Pinecrest. “We needed to
change drastically to attract more and younger people.â€
King’s pastor, Felipe Assis, closed the church for a month
and “replanted†it as Crossbridge, with a focus on
diversity and community service.
“It’s a more inclusive name, a consumerist attempt to
recast a super conservative image,†said Kling, chair of the
University of Miami religious studies department.
Wendell Fisher, who used to minister to single adults at
University Baptist, started Lighthouse Church in Miami Beach
with Sunday services by the sea that appeal to the Beach
community.
“In my parents’ generation, the denomination you belonged
to was as strong as your choice of political party,†he
said. But today, “we’re not as concerned about the brand
of Christianity as the heart of what we’re about.â€
In Coral Springs, Church By the Glades opens its doors to all
comers with a “no perfect people allowed†policy borrowed
from John Burke’s book of that name. The church advocates a
“come as you are†culture — and not just come as you are
in jeans and a T-shirt. Whether an alcoholic, a doubter or a
homosexual, everyone is a struggler here.
“We would rather spend our time explaining Christ to people
than explaining ‘Baptist,’  †said social media
director Summer Boone.
David Uribe of Christ Fellowship Miami offers a similar
message on the website
www.churchmarketingsucks.com,
an offshoot of the Center for Church Communication, which
helps churches improve their marketing.
Uribe counsels churches to bring as many people through the
door as possible by reducing confusing messages and
“single-mindedly focusing on “the stated mission and
vision of the church.â€
But Barnes of West Pines cautions that being more accepting
doesn’t change a denomination’s articles of faith.
“Ultimately, what we believe as a church is what the church
has historically believed,†he said.
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