Baptist churches changing their names

[Bro Tony]

Good job twisting what I said.

Sorry Bro if I mistranslated your meaning or your reasoning. Kind of like those who quickly call those who choose to take the name Baptist off their church sign dishonest or liars. The point is that in some cases this may be needful. Others should be careful of declaring the motives of others when they don't know them.

Bro Tony

 

[Revmitchell]

I havent declared anyone a liar, I only stated what was already true. The name isnt important I agree with you on that. We can be humptyfrats instead of Baptist. But if we are going to be humptyfrats then we shouldnt hide it. We should declare what we are.

I didnt determine that hiding what we are is equivelent to lying, that is a truth whether we admit to it or not. Hiding what we are is deceitful, dishonest, without honesty, lacks appropriate level of honesty.

Why is it dishonest? I am glad you asked! It is dishonest because you withheld your identity so as to make people think that there isnt a type of people in that church building that they have made a concious decision to not associate with. In other words you have mislead them into thinking that it is a different type of atmosphere and association than what it really is. This is deceit, false identification, a lie, dishonest, immoral, unchristlike, and unscriptual.

I did not decide that. I just pointed out what was already true.

 

[Bro Tony]

And I would say to you that changing the name on the outside of the building is not hiding anything. As I said the name Baptist does not guarantee anything. It is up to the local autonomous church what their name should be. I think it is much more deceitful to put Baptist on the door and then teach doctrines that are not biblical. And that my friend happens all the time. As we honestly reach out to people and share our faith and God's Word it is then that they find out who we are. Hiding behind a denominational name can be the height of deceit.

Bro Tony

 

[Joseph_Botwinick]

If a church is doing it to attract people, they should look at the studies which show that denominational names do not impede growth at all. Most people I come into contact with who are totally unchurched want to know what kind of church they're being invited to.

However, what a church believes, proclaims and practices is more important than what a church calls itself.

Most times, what a Church calls itself on the sign is a good indication of what they believe, proclaim, and practice.

Joseph Botwinick

 

[LeBuick]

Most times, what a Church calls itself on the sign is a good indication of what they believe, proclaim, and practice.

Joseph Botwinick

This was a true statement when all Pastors were educated etc...

If the original Pastor is still there it may indicate but once they get a new Pastor who knows what he might be teaching... We have a couple of aptist Churches here that took on Pentecostal pastors claming to be baptist. Not they speak in tounges, healing hands etc...

By the way, one group was speaking in tounges at one of my buddies Church and he stopped service and ask for the interpreter. He doesn't have that problem anymore...

 

[Joshua Rhodes]

We call them "Stealth Baptists." :laugh:

 

[Lagardo]

I practice Karate.

I am a green belt in American Freestyle Kenpo.

Aside from from those of you who might know something about martial arts, what significant difference did the second statement make than the first.

Granted, among martial arts enthusiasts the second statement said a great deal regarding my training, my level, how I learn, etc, but to most other people it conveyed nothing more than than the first, "I practice Karate."

Unchurched people do not know what is meant by a denomenational title. They may have some concept of what it means and this may or may not be accurate.

I do not think that a church hides anything by not having a denomentational label on the sign. I was on staff for a few years at a church that some time back had changed from "Southside Baptist Church" to "Southside Community Church" because the people felt that many of the lost they were working with did not know what "Baptist" meant and had many negative misconceptions about Baptist churches. The name changed, but the church's baptist affiliation and beliefs were never hidden from the people. In fact, if you visit there, you will be invited to a lunch after service where a presentation is given about the church. It was always stated there that the church was a southern baptist church and many misconceptions about what that meant were cleared up. Furthermore, in the new members class, it was explained that the church was a southern baptist church. I don't think the church ever decieved anyone with the name change.

We did, in fact, have serveral visitors who later told us that they would never have attended a church if they had known it was baptist before visiting. They are maturing Christians today and they are proud to be baptists.

 

[Joshua Rhodes]

Awesome Lagardo!

If the Lord directs a name change for the right reasons, then by all means bring it on, in my opinion. A rose by any other name is just as Baptist. :tongue3:

 

[Jack Matthews]

I attend a relatively new church that, until recently, met in a school facility. When this church was started, there was significant discussion about whether we would even be a Baptist church, in terms of affiliation. Technically, the only thing that identifies a particular church as Southern Baptist is whether or not they contribute to the Cooperative Program out of their budget. It was my feeling that we could do that and not be deceptive by calling ourselves a community church, as long as we were careful to let people know that's where our mission money was going. There were others who felt that any association with the SBC would be seen as negative, especially here in Nashville where there is a greater awareness of Southern Baptists among the community at large, and where the general perception of the SBC by non-Southern Baptists is an extremely negative one.

Since giving our missions money to the NAMB and the IMB through the Tennessee Baptist Convention was the preference of the majority of our church, we included the name Baptist. It is usually not difficult to point out to people that we are not like the Southern Baptists who have earned such a bad reputation. Once they come into our fellowship, they can see that.