Dear en,
It is very encouraging to see advertisements for so many churches each month in the pages of en, sometimes with new churches appearing in various parts of the country.
I have often asked myself how, if I had been in the situation of needing to choose a name for a newly-planted church, would I set about it? Would the name be primarily with the community around the church in mind – so perhaps we would call ourselves ‘Christ Church’, or, ‘Grace Community Church’? Or would it be to communicate to other Christians moving into town, or visiting, what the church’s stance was on, say, baptism, gifts of the Spirit, Reformed doctrine, or church order, etc. – so perhaps ‘Reformed Baptist Church’ or ‘Evangelical Presbyterian Church’, or even ‘AnyTown Free Church’? What should our priority be in choosing a name, does it really matter, and will it change over generations?
