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Featured Is it really that importatant for a Baptist church to have the name "Baptist" in their name?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Felipe Rios, Jan 2, 2018.

  1. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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    Not too long ago my church decided to change the name of the church for several reasons (I will mention those reasons). We went from Grace Missionary Baptist Church to New City Church. Because we took the name 'Baptist" out of our name, many of our brethren from other sister churches have given us a hard time because of it. A pastor even accused us of not being Baptist because we took the name "Baptist" out of our name.

    Reasons why we changed our name:

    1. There were too many churches around us with the name "Grace" and we were being confused for another church.

    2. Our name was too long and it was hard for people to remember our name when we evangelized.

    3. There are some Bapticostal churches around us with the name "Missionary" in it and we didn't want to be confused with that denomination.

    4. My church wanted a simpler and basic name so that people can remember us easier.

    5. We chose "New City" after the New Jerusalem where we will live with God in eternity. Our slogan is "New Life leads to New City."


    Reasons why we decided to not leave "Baptist" in our name:

    1. Most unchurched people do not know what a "Baptist" is and may not even know if we are a "Christian" church (I had a situation when someone asked me if we were Christians). So we didn't want people to not come to our church just because our name has "Baptist" in it.

    2. Most Baptists are already in a Baptist church so we want to promote ourselves as a Christian church. We are not looking for Baptists to join our church (though they are welcomed of course), we are looking for the unchurched since most of our city does not go to any church.

    3. We do not have to have the name "Baptist" in our name to be Baptist, so our church didn't have a problem with removing "Baptist."

    4. Jesus never gave His church a name so we felt comfortable with making a change to our name.


    We are still Baptist. Our doctrine has not changed and it will not change!


    What is your opinion on this? Is it right that others are giving us a hard time over this?
     
  2. Rob_BW

    Rob_BW Well-Known Member
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    When you say sister churches, are you talking about a local association?
     
  3. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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    Yes. Baptist churches within our association.
     
  4. Jerome

    Jerome Well-Known Member
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    Good luck with that.

    A sample:

    New City Church
    New City Church
    New City Church
     
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  5. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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  6. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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    When I Google New City Church different "types" of churches come up. If our old name did not help, who are we to say that our new name will not. I guess time will tell. But at the end of the day, it is not the name that matters, but the doctrine that matters.
     
  7. Jerome

    Jerome Well-Known Member
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    Yes, just google, all manner of churches are adopting trendy generic names like that
    All manner.

    Former pastor Tullian Tchividjian's church was named that:

    Tullian Tchividjian

    "A grandson of (Evangelist) Billy and Ruth Graham, Tullian was the Founding Pastor of the former New City Church (in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) which merged with the historic Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 2009....After a season of self-destruction leading up to, and following, his resignation from Coral Ridge in June 2015, Tullian is now married to Stacie"
     
  8. thatbrian

    thatbrian Well-Known Member
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    If that's the case, why did you change the name?
     
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  9. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    He went into great detail in his original post.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 XL
     
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  10. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    Name changes are always hard - somebody always has a "better" idea.
    The reasons you give fall in line with many of the common reasons churches change names.

    Names connote different things in different locations.

    A "New" Name church probably wouldn't work well in the NE Philly region.
    Nearby is the Bryn Athyn Cathedral of the New Church, a Swedenbougian cult church of the New Jerusalem.

    Rob
     
  11. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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    I'm pretty sure I gave the reasons already. My point is that Baptists shouldn't freak out about not having Baptist on the church name.
     
  12. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    Mine doesn’t. Things seem to be working out fine.
     
  13. Reformed

    Reformed Well-Known Member
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    I think the Baptist moniker is helpful but not necessary. I am more concerned with what comes out of the pulpit and whether the members show the love of Christ.
     
  14. Ziggy

    Ziggy Well-Known Member
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    Because I hold certain very specific views regarding doctrine and church polity, I will _not_ attend a church that does not have "Baptist" in its name. Otherwise, neither I nor prospective attendees can tell whether e.g., "Celebration Church" is Baptist, Charismatic, Pentecostal, or even cultic, and I don't want to go church hopping here there and everywhere just to try and sort things out. Your mileage might vary, but I will remain consistent on that point.
     
  15. Rob_BW

    Rob_BW Well-Known Member
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    I figured if the "Amen Church" was a member of the local "Smith River Baptist Association," then they were waving the baptist flag sufficiently enough that I wouldn't be concerned whether or not the word baptist was in their name.

    My opinion only.
     
  16. Jerome

    Jerome Well-Known Member
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    Nine Types of Trendy Church Names
    You get the picture, but at the end he summarizes research that's debunked excuses often given for seeker-sensitive, pretentious namechanges.
     
    #16 Jerome, Jan 3, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2018
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  17. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    Makes you wonder if churches that pick trendy names are setting themselves up for another name change at a not-so-distant time.
    Yikes! I attend Crossing Community Church - who would have guessed that its a tready name?
    That's been its name since its inception in the mid-1970's.
    Our sponsoring church removed "Baptist" from their name a decade later.
    We worship near Washington Crossing, PA so the name is a place name too.

    Rob
     
  18. OnlyaSinner

    OnlyaSinner Well-Known Member
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    When we lived in Northern Maine, in an area 95% RCC (and not coincidently, 95% Franco-American), the fundamental churches were almost all called "[town name] Bible Church." However, they were all thoroughly baptistic in doctrine and practice. There was a lone "Baptist" church, older than the Bible churches, in the mainly Scotch-Irish town at the end of pavement, a settlement isolated from other "English" areas by 50+ miles of Francophone towns. Perhaps, within that RCC enclave, "Bible Church" was sufficient to distinguish the works from the local religious establishment.
     
  19. Felipe Rios

    Felipe Rios Member

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    But if you were a lost person, I guarantee you are likely to go to a New City Church as opposed to a New City Baptist Church. Put yourself in the shoes of the lost.
     
  20. Ziggy

    Ziggy Well-Known Member
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    One church I formerly belonged to was clearly a strong Baptist Church (SBC) in name and practice. A few years after I left, it first dropped "Baptist" from its name, and later altered even what was left of the original name into "The Bridge Church ," in the process moving strongly into the charismatic movement with all the usual trappings. Yet even today it still claims to be "loosely" affiliated with the SBC -- do I recommend it to anyone, including a lost person? Absolutely not. My 2c.

    Oh, I almost forgot to mention this: after the approximately 2-3 years of these changes _not one_ former member of the original Baptist church remained -- all had gone to various other churches that retained the "Baptist" moniker in their name.
     
    #20 Ziggy, Jan 3, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2018
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