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What's in a name?

Christian Century, Jan 25, 2003 by John Dart

AFTER ATTENDING a conference at Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral seven years ago, leaders of the Lutheran Church of the Master in Sylmar, California, started thinking about changing their congregation's name. The trend of erasing denominational identity from church names had been well under way in the West among independent evangelical and charismatic churches--and with iconoclasts like the famed pastor of the Crystal Cathedral.

"Lutheran" and other Christian terms are confusing to some outsiders, ruminated Sam Platts, a longtime Lutheran pastor in the moderate-income community within the Los Angeles city limits. A few had asked whether Lutheran had something to do with Martin Luther King Jr. And the honorific title for Jesus was unfamiliar too: some mistook it for Church of the "Masters," of the "Mistress" or of the "Martyrs," Platts said.

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With denominational allegiance waning, and the U.S. routinely described as a religious marketplace, the question of church names arises occasionally for mainline churches. "It always is a topic of discussion among young United Methodist clergy," who feel the denominational name is a barrier to growth in a postdenominational culture, said Carol Childress of the Dallas-based Leadership Network. However, United Methodist polity requires "United Methodist" to be in a UMC church's legal title.

Even when mainline churches are allowed to skip the institutional name, the rare congregations that do so risk irritating leaders and longtime members. Gradye Parsons, strategic operations director for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly office, said his impression is that the Presbyterian churches without that identification are those that have relocated, just formed, or merged with a congregation from another church tradition. It's a nonissue when a bigger question is membership decline, said veteran church consultant Lyle Schaller. "I don't think the mainline bodies pay too much attention to it."

In 1996, Platts said, his 170-member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had grown stagnant in Sylmar, a relatively unchurched suburban area once called "a graveyard for ministers" by a discouraged Adventist pastor. The congregation bit the bullet and decided upon a name change along with plans to renew the church's look, feel and outreach to young adults.

The 64 nominated names included six using "faith" and 11 having "hope" in the title. The suggestion box also yielded "Ole and Sven's Big Building" and "Please Come to Our Church." The winner: Church of the Foothills. Indeed, stained-glass windows were replaced with clear glass to allow views of the nearby foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Instead of traditional pews, moveable upholstered chairs were installed. The church's parklike front yard has tables, benches and a fish pond.

"We decided to get rid of `members' who never came, and got the rolls down to 118 people," said Platts. The biggest growth has come this past year: from 144 in January to nearly 200 by year's end.

Platts admitted to one problem: The fastest-growing group is high school age. Some members complain that "they aren't our kids," said Platts. The minister, 60, raved about 19-year-old Jose Martinez, whose infectious enthusiasm and abilities assisting with the liturgy earned him the approval of the synod bishop to substitute for Platts on his vacation.

A pastor at the congregation for 28 years, Platts said he does not think the ELCA likes the elimination of "Lutheran" at Church of the Foothillls (though those ties are evident in church literature and on the congregation's Web site). "They like their churches to be in decline," Platts contended.

Actually, the ELCA has a task force developing an evangelism strategy for the denomination, which holds its biennial convention in August in Milwaukee. Through a church spokesman, the task force leader, Bishop Gary Wollersheim of the Northern Illinois Synod, said that the evangelism strategy does not speak to whether "Lutheran" should remain in a local church's name.

"I, however, personally favor always using the name `Lutheran,'" said Wollersheim, "because of our powerful theology of grace and because of our leadership in ecumenical relationships." He noted that the large Lutheran Services in America is a strong witness to the gospel. "Our desire to be clear as to who we are and what we believe" is also important, he said, in spite of the desire of a few congregations to use self-descriptions they consider "more accessible to the general public."

Of the ELCA's 10,777 congregations, only 64 lack "Lutheran" or "ELCA" in their church name, according to the August issue of the Lutheran magazine. The most common name was Trinity Lutheran; second and third were St. John and St. Paul. The magazine also reported that the most popular choices by ELCA churches organized in the past ten years often include words like peace, faith, joy, life and hope, but usually along with "Lutheran" in the name.

What's in a name?

Christian Century, Jan 25, 2003 by John Dart

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