I admit I can sometimes be cynical when talking about churches. It comes from 69 years of experiencing them in different sizes, shapes, and flavors. I remember going to seminars back in the 80’s and 90’s on church marketing. We were educated on the nature of savvy consumers, what appealed and what didn’t get noticed. There were other seminars on how churches attracted visitors, what kept them coming back and what will cause them to NEVER come back.
We were “Firsts” back in those days. First Baptist, First Presbyterian, First United Methodist, First Lutheran, First Assembly. There were even a few Seconds and Thirds sprinkled into the mix. They indicated, by their history, that they were the first church of that denomination in town, or maybe the second, or the third.
New residents in town could look for their kind of “first”, and simply show up on Sunday morning at 11:00.
But things had gradually been changing while we were sleeping at our workshops and singing two hymns and a praise song on Sundays. New residents didn’t automatically look for their type of “First”. There weren’t any churches in their town that could reproduce the glitz and glitter of that religious program that was on TV. Besides that, Sunday mornings had become just as much about rest and recovery for folk to get ready for their Monday work grind.
So the “name change” cure for our spiritual apathetic culture began. First Baptist Church had been an indication of its denominational connection and people had become more and more suspicious of denominations.
Out with the “Firsts” and in with the spiritual calling card. Whereas, most of the downtown churches kept “First” in their name because of history, location, and tradition, others took up names that included a holy-sounding term, such as “Trinity”, “Holy Apostles”, “Grace”, “Sanctuary of Life”, “Peace”, “Hope”, “Fellowship”, and “Faith.” A church’s denominational affiliation couldn’t be discovered by looking at the name. A worshipper would have to look deeper. It seems that in many cases there were also subtle ideas being conveyed that said “We’re more concerned about you and our fellowship than we are of our denominational connection.”
And then another idea was introduced as new churches were being started and planted in new locations. It might be in a storefront or meeting at a school, or even the local YMCA. Someone, some genius, figured out that in growing metropolitan areas where suburbs kept being built further and further from the center of the city, that putting some kind of noun in the new church’s name would help people figure out where it was. Or, just put a name into the title that sounded like a location. Call it “Willow Creek”, “North Point”, “North Shore”, “Saddleback”, or “Gate City”, and make it innovative, upbeat, and have the pastor wear skinny jeans (Okay! That skinny jeans was sarcasm! I never understood cramming myself into a pair, but I’ve never understood ripped jeans either!) Many of the current mega-churches fall into this category. Some of them hit on something. However, most hit on nothing and disappeared as if they were K-Marts.
Finally, I’ve noticed there has been another trend that has emerged. It’s called “The Verb Church.” It seems that more congregations of the faithful are looking for that action verb that indicates movement and progress. Not that an action verb in the name of a church is bad or sacrilegious, it just seems to be the new thing. In our city recent times have brought the verbs “Empower”, “Proclaim”, “Magnify”, and “Restore” as examples of verb churches, most of which simply rebranded themselves and changed their name to incorporate the verb. Other verb churches around the country include “elevate”, overcome”, “triumph, and “relentless” (I guess relentless is an adjective, but still…).
Perhaps the verb church is a good thing. Maybe it conveys the idea that the church, in general, is not dead, but alive and active. Maybe it’s another phase that indicates churches, like emerging adolescents, are still trying to find their identity. Identity seems to be a thing that perplexes us. There, that’s another verb that may be appropriate for many communities of faith…perplexed, or confused, maybe even complicated.
All that to say, where God is met, experienced, and reflected is not dependent on a name, a building, or even skinny jeans. After all, He is the “I Am” no matter the title of who we are.