On Choosing a New

Church Name
Third Presbyterian Church
December 16, 2007
 Why a New Name?
As part of the agreement for leaving the
PCUSA, the John Knox Presbytery
required us to change our name within two
years as the name “Third” too directly
connected us to the PCUSA
 The Name Change Process
 Why has it taken so long?
 We asked the congregation for name
suggestions via three surveys and in two
congregational town meetings.
 So everyone who wanted to have input in
this decision has had ample opportunity to
do so
 The Name Change Process
 As a pastor, whose time here is inherently
limited as all pastor’s tenures are, I chose to
have as little influence on this decision as
possible
 This decision needed to be God-driven, then
Elder-driven, and then congregation-driven
 My only input was to lay out the pros and cons of
each type of name, and to suggest the options
for deciding on a process to make this decision.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
 When one researches church names
across the country, it is interesting to
discover two dynamics:
 (1) that there are really only a very limited
number of names in circulation that get
used repeatedly by congregations, and
 (2) that these names fall into only five
major categories.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Theological Names:
 Advantages: Biblically sound and theologically
meaningful to Christians.
 Disadvantages: We are living in a “post-
Christian” culture wherein the majority of people
are clueless as to what these terms mean.
Therefore, such names could be a barrier to
attract visitors due to all the negative
stereotypes the un-churched and de-churched
have of institutional Christianity.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Locational Names:
 Advantage: It helps people know where we are
located, and for Third this would be a plus.
 Disadvantages: These names do nothing to
communicate the heart and unique vision of a
church. The location included only helps if you
know the area anyhow.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Traditional Names:
 Advantages: They convey an image of stability,
longevity, and importance.
 Disadvantages: They can also portray
pompousness, and also do nothing to reveal
unique vision.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Contemporary Names:
 Advantages: They can portray a church’s unique
vision, and can more readily connect with our
21st century culture.
 Disadvantage: Some of them can be too hip and
trendy, and therefore can become outdated
quickly.
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Hybrid Names:
 Advantages: You get theological meaningfulness,
contemporary connection, and the communication
of unique vision.
 Disadvantages: would be the same as for the
contemporary category of some being too trendy
 Pros & Cons of Name Categories
Including the denomination in the name:
 Since the majority of people seeking a church in
our current culture do not choose a church based
on denomination, and in fact find denominations,
especially mainline denominations like
Presbyterian, to represent everything that’s
distasteful about Christianity, you might want to
consider seriously not including our denomination
in the main name.
 List of Suggested Names
 All the suggested names fell into four
groups:
 They all included some variation of either
“Windsor,” Grace,” Eagle Point,” or “Trinity.”
 The variations were simply whether you
added “Evangelical Church” or “Evangelical
Presbyterian Church” or combined some
variation of the word “Grace” with our
location of “Windsor.”
 Narrowing Down the List
After abundant, persistent, fervent prayer
over the past year and a half, and after
taking into account all the input received
from the congregation, and after weighing
the pros and cons of each type of name
as just presented, the Elders came to the
following guidelines and name choices…
 Narrowing Down the List
Guidelines the Session Used:
 Not to incorporate the denominational name in
the main name (because of the barrier it
presents, and this will be included in many of our
bylines making it redundant )
 Not to combine our location with another name
(as this would be too restricting to future
generations should the church need to move,
and because it just sounds too awkward)
And The Top Three Choices Are…
Windsor Church

 Advantage of this name is that it directly includes

location

Trinity Church
 Advantage of this name is that it has a continuity
factor from “Third” to “Trinity,” and has relevant
theological significance.
 And The Top Choice is…
GracePoint
Here are the advantages to this name:
 It captures our God-given vision of being a place of grace for the
hurting, the spiritually lost, and the disconnected, and a place of
equipping as grace is the power to be saved and to grow in Christ
 It is a unique name in Dubuque which will match the unique niche we
believe we are called to fill in Dubuque in fulfilling our new vision
 It is a “hybrid” name that incorporates both the “theological” and
“contemporary” categories without being too trendy
 Having “Point” as part of the name gives us the locational advantage
connecting us to the “Point” area of Dubuque without the
restrictiveness or awkwardness of a name like “Grace on Windsor”
 We can easily include the phrase “on Windsor” as part of our logo
giving us an additional Locational aid
 It lends itself to thematic use (e.g. GracePlace for Kids, Grace Groups,
GraceNotes, etc)
 Congregational Input
 Since we are a Presbyterian church who believes
that God works through elected elders, as
opposed to a “Congregational” church who makes
all decisions via majority vote, we must give
considerable weight to the prayer-birthed,
Spirit-led choice of the current elected Elders.
 Nevertheless, as this is such a far-impacting and
longstanding decision, the Elders desire to make
this decision with as high a degree of
congregational input and majority agreement as is
possible
 Congregational Input
 To solicit this input and to seek majority
agreement, the Elders would like you to submit
your feedback as to how you would rank these
three names
 This input should be driven by what you have
discerned in all your fervent prayer over this
matter to be Christ’s choice of a name, and not
driven by your personal preference!
 Congregational Input
 On your input form, please rank the three names
in order of what you believe to be the best
Spirit-led choices by placing the numbers “1,”
“2,”or “3” beside each name marking you highest
choice “3,” second highest “2,” and least
preferable “1.”
 The Elders will then incorporate the
congregation’s input in making a final name
choice in the Session meeting on December 19.