The staff usually goes out to Applebees for lunch after staff meetings on Tuesdays. We frequent this same restaurant A LOT. The staff at Applebees knows us and we know them. They see us praying, discussing, laughing, and debating. And yes, they see us tipping too. We have established some good relationships with the staff there.
One Tuesday after a discussion on a possible name change for our church, one of our staff members decided to run an experiment. He actually decided to ask one of the actual people that we are actually trying to reach what they actually think about our name and the name change issue (a lot of actuality I know).
He turned to one of the waitresses and said, "__________, if I were to invite you to the Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church or to the (insert his favorite name here) Church, which one would you go to."
She replied, "I would go to the (insert favorite name here) Church for sure."
We all began to laugh and the inquiring staff member asked, "Why? Why would you go to the (insert favorite name here) Church rather than the Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church?"
She replied, "Because I don't even know what that first name...what was it called? The Reformery Glasgow Presbo Church? Yeah that one. What is that, a reforming school? It sounds like a correctional institute. The other name you mentioned sounds friendly, ya know, like a place I would go."
The staff began to laugh and invited the waitress to church. She did come. Hasn't been back yet. But we still leave a good tip.
The point is this. Often as a church we develop a club mentality. We have our congregational meetings, newsletters, prayer groups, bible studies and so on. When the idea of a name change comes up some feathers get ruffled. That is understandable. But I would challenege each of us to think from a different angle. Think from the waitresses angle. Think from the perspective of the world that we are trying to reach. Think for the angle of who we are and what our mission is.
How do you do this? Ask your unsaved friends what they think about the GRPC name along side of some of the other great name ideas that are coming up (Redeemer, Summit, Redemptive Presence etc). Don't try to defend the GRPC name. Just listen to them. Listen carefully to what they are saying.
Now ask how a name change, if we were to have one, could help us to be redemptive and missional in our community.
These are just some thoughts. To be honest, I am not personally all that concerned with a name change. It is not a personal mission of mine. GRPC's name means so much to me. I have been here since the beginning. But what matters more to me is our mission to reach a lost community. Whatever sacred cows hinder us in that one mission can be slaughtered at the altar of missional thinking.
Feel free to post your opinions.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Should GRPC Change Their Name?
Posted by Pastor Dan at 10:52 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
If the name of the church is changed,(which I am for) when the new sign goes up I can't wait to see how many folks come in and say something like "I never knew you guys were here" or "how long have you been here?" The point being this, I saw the name years ago & never gave it a second thought till I got sucked in thru the radio ministry. I bet when something attractive signage goes up on 896 you won't have enough seat for the people!
Someone tried to repeat the church name back to me on Tuesday... They messed it up also "Glasgow Reformatory Presbyterian" she replied.... Really makes ya think
~Michael
I have a tough time with change, and my immediate response to the name change when I first heard it was "NO! We've always been Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church!" (Quite a lot to type as a side note ;) That being said, the way you present it here makes it easier to understand why a change might be necessary. I mean after all, we are NOT a reform school!
I agree...GRPC means a lot to me too fancythis. I appreciate your comment though for sure. Thanks for taking the time.
Honestly, As long as I can remember people always stumble over our name. Many have shortened it themselves to Glasgow Church, or simply "that big church on 896". I also think in light of the radio ministry that a more global sounding name may be appropriate.
We can SUMM-IT up like this. We need to be about our Fathers business. That also includes tearing down walls & building bridges. If the name is a wall that is keeping people like I was from hearing the saving message of Jesus Christ then I say breakout the barbque sauce
I'm also not a fan of changing that which is not broken and especially that which conveys truth with clarity even in a world where truth "seems" relative. So, when we started talking about changing the name of GRPC, I really thought it was a knee-jerk reaction to cave into the emerging church phenomenon and to reject our denominational heritage and roots. I cringed hard. After all, the whole reason why I started attending GRPC was because I wanted to find a church that was "reformed" theologically and preferred one that was in the PCA. (Yes, I know I'm not really the norm or standard demographic for anything anyway)
HOWEVER ... now after repeating the exercise with two non-Christians, I also got similar responses from them.
"Reformatory???" And what's presbyterian mean? Is that an English word?
Anyway, I will sincerely mourn the loss of our namesake, should we indead chose to "breakout the BBQ sauce" as Anonymous suggested. But I'm much more open to the reasons for it now and the positive impact that it will most likely have within the community that we live.
Deb W
Well said Deb. I have been thinking about that too. I love our denomination and cling to the Reformed Faith as I believe it upholds the Scriptures. I think that a good compromise might be in order. Why not just change the "Glasgow" and keep the rest in our formal name.
For instance, when someone asks you where you go to church or when you invite someone to church, you could simply respond I go to "(insert new name here)" church, and leave the denominational part out. When said people begin attending the church, we could teach them what the rest of the name means. Most of the churches in our Presbytery go by their first name only...for instance, "Faith", "Grace", "Crossroads", "Cornerstone" etc...but their full name is Faith Presbyterian Church etc...just some thoughts...
Well as it stands now most folks driving down 896 don't know who we are. The little sign can't seen let alone read at 55mph. I heard someone call it the BBC (big brick church) We don't have to lose our denominational identity all together, just make it less noticable. Something like,
_______ Christian Church
A Mission of GRPC
PCA
I do beleive that is important to say that we are Christians first & formost & what ever label you want to put on it second
Annie N
To me, a name doesn't have to describe -- it has to convey distinction. We have first name so that we don't all go around saying "hey you". Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church is just too long. Even churches in the area just refer to us as "Glasgow" because the acronym is too hard for people to remember.
Personally, I think Glasgow Presbyterian Church would be a relatively minor yet useful change. It mirrors many other churches like "Faith Baptist Church". The reformed part, while significant, isn't something we have to have in the name. Everyone will continue to call us "Glasgow", it won't sound too intimidating or confusing to outsiders, and we can just lop off the unnecessary letters from the sign. It's a win win!
First, I'd like to say that I've been going to this church for a grand total of 2 weeks. Before my friend told me about his "church on 896", I didn't know it existed. I still don't know what is Reformed, or what it means to be Presbyterian. The only reason I knew before attending that this is a Christian church is because my friend told me.
That said, I think changing the name is a wonderful idea.
Post a Comment