Yesterday I delivered a difficult meesage when I called on our congregation to consider changing our church name. It was difficult because I know there will be people who do not want this change, but it really is a sensible change considering there is another church in town with the same name. It also is something I have wrestled with God about, but he has told me a name change is what we need to do. If we keep our name the same we will continue to have confusion in the community between our churches and if we change it there could be a short period of misunderstandings, but in the long run it will have many positives.
I was thinking back to my own name change. (This information may not be used to tease or otherwise poke fun of me.) When I was younger I was Jamie. A cute name for a little kid, but when I became a man I didn't want that little kid name. It also didn't hurt that we had two other Jamie's in our grade and they were both girls. So in ninth grade I decided to go with James. And I have really enjoyed that name since. I surprisingly do not meet a lot of James', many go by Jim, which I do not plan on doing. Looking back, my name change was not that big of a deal, but to me it felt like I became the person I was supposed to be.
A name change can be difficult at first when you are helping others to remember your new name, but eventually people make the connection. When the connection is made they do not forget everything that happened with the previous name, your history is still there, but now it connects to this new name.
I believe God wants to give this congregation their own new name. A name that will communicate who we are as we help this community SEE Christ. And maybe this is a transformation God has been planning for this congregation from the beginning.
MISSION: 1)Pray for our congregation's decision. 2) Talk with someone from the church about your thoughts and feelings about a name change. Also feel free to comment me any name suggestions.
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3 comments:
That was WELL said! I have been talking about our possible name change with my mother who you all know worked serveral years at the church. She said that James was not the first pastor to hear God's calling to change our name. Rev. Rachel AND Rev. Carol both heard God's call too. Now James makes 3... folks, I think God is talking to us, maybe we need to listen. If we took a poll and asked everyone in town who is St. Paul's church, the majority of the poll would be the Luthern Church... in fact I bet only a HANDFUL would say Methodist. Probably just our congregation in fact! For myself I look it our name change like a woman getting married. She leaves her family and joins her husband taking his name. Know one forgets her past or her former name... I'm sure you all know me as a Lehnst even though my last name is Muse. I'm still the same person but that is how I am identified now. So for me, we left St. Paul's United Methodist building and I can't wait for us to get into our new building and I am VERY hopefully that we as a congregation we will listen to our pastor and former pastors who have all heard God's call. How can we possibly argue with God? After all... isn't it God's house so shouldn't He have a say in what to name it or if we should rename? So for 15 years we have ignored God on this matter... the time is now! This of course is my opinoin on the matter in which I'm sure you will all respect just as I respect all of your opinions... I just couldn't ignore posting a comment on this topic! Love you all!
Jamie Muse
I missed this church service to stay home with a sick little girl. It's too bad because I have heard comments from several others that were there and have concerns. Having not been at the service, I can only tell you my own feelings about the name change. I will share some of these thoughts at our charge conference but I also wanted to get them out there before we meet next week to vote.
Fifteen years ago I was hired by the SPPRC to work at the church as secretary. Pastor Rachel Leider-Simeon was my boss then and she asked me to answer the telephone as "Methodist Church" and to use that name instead of St. Paul's at every opportunity. She felt strongly that we should have our own identity, away from the Lutheran Church by the same name. So this is not an overnight decision made by James or the Ad Council. Rev. Carol Kress also stressed that the name Methodist Church was her choice as well.
The confusion factor with mail and visitors was an annoyance but not something one couldn't live with. Sorta like a "squeeze the toothpaste from the end" person marrying a "squeeze the toothpaste from the middle" person. You still hold up your end of the vows and love each other forever, but every morning when you open that cabinet to brush your teeth...arh!! There it is! Thrown in you face! So if the vote determines that we don't change the name, no harm-no foul. We move on from there.
The last comment I would like to share with you is the fact that a couple of years ago, we voted on the big change to put the church bulding up for sale and to take that leap of faith that we would be able to build a new, more efficient building. There were lots of prayers, lots of tears and here we are...picking out carpet for a new building!! At that time, we talked about how the building on the square was brick and mortar. The church was the people. This is true again with this name change. WE are the church. Not the building we are in; not the name on the door. All of us, old-timers and new friends alike make up our church. I would venture to say that if you asked any of our new friends, they didn't come to us and join in our worship service because they saw the name St. Paul's UMC in the phone book and thought, "What a great name for a church! Let's go there next Sunday!" They came seeking His word and spiritual fulfillment. They came seeking others that would praise Christ. They came seeking a Christian foundation for their children. And what did they find?? They found a CHURCH!! A loving, giving group of people that accepted them and want to share the Good News.
Please keep these thoughts in your mind as you contemplate your vote next week. Please give it prayerful consideration.
Yours in Christ, Jeanie Lehnst
I also have a strong feeling that this is the direction God is wanting us to go. Yes, we do get mail that doesn't belong to us but oddly enough, in the last couple weeks we have had phone calls for the Lutheran church and then people that didn't come to the Ash Wednesday service because they saw St. Paul's on TV (that the evening services were being cancelled) and thought it was our church when it was again the Lutheran. I feel like God continues to reaffirm that this is the right choice for our church right now. I hope everyone can make it this Sunday to be a part of the discussion and then vote on this controversial subject.
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