I Need Your opinions

[Gene Hawks]

Hey guy's I'm in a situation and one of my rules in determininng the will of God is to seek Godly advise. I've recently gotten involved with a Church that was on the brink of closure. Having lost their building to flooding and black mold, and almost all their membership to the shear discouragement, When God put us together their were only four ladies trying to decide what to do. (The story is too long for this forum but quite amazing.) Now, three months later their are eight of us and a vision for going forward and starting over. We are looking for land, for which We have a little money, to rebuild, and know that as long as We are careful to follow God He is going to use this new church. We are currently re-writing the constitution and with a move will be re-naming the church. That leads me to where I am at now. The only proposed name for this new work is "Watchtower Baptist" there is a very long amazing story that goes along with this. I personally 1) have no problem with it. 2) I do see how God can be leading that way. 3) God has not given me or anyone else another sense of direction. Having said that I do know that the impression it leaves on others does matter. My former pastor and best friend was the first to say," You'll be accused of being Jehovah's Witnesses." I do get that! after some research I found out that while it is not a popular name for Baptist churches, There are a few out there. AS LONG AS WE REMAIN LOYAL TO THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD, WHAT SO YOU OF THE NAME????

 

[exscentric]

Depends somewhat on how the lost of your area feel about JWs. If there is a lot of dislike, your name would probably cost you. If there is little dislike, then maybe you could get away with it.

Personal opinion - avoid it, why chance it unless there is some COMPELLING reason to use it.

 

[Aaron]

Your former pastor and best friend is right. Here's a suggestion, how about (insert community name) Baptist Church?

 

[Twizzler]

Personally I have no problem with the name and to be quite blunt never associated the name with JW's until you mentioned something about it. I know who the JW's are, but don't know much else, nor do I really wish to know a whole lot about them. If it were me and the name 'Watchtower' had real SIGNIFICANCE in this case, I would push for it no matter what the possible associations may be. To do otherwise would be similar to refusing to use the name "Baptist" because of the Westboro Baptist Church and I just don't see why we should duck a name, unless it's something with a VERY HORRIBLE stigma attached to it... such as Al Queda Baptist Church. Al Queda simply means... 'The Base', but I'd never use it as the name of my church because of the horrible stigma... the same would be true of 'Nazi Baptist Church'...

I just don't think the word 'Watchtower' has such a stigma and would encourage you all to use it as you see fit.

God is good.

tw

 

[Benjamin]

My first impression was, "No way, bad choice". And I think first impressions are important.

 

[Trotter]

Too many connotations with using "Watchtower". It doesn't matter how awesome the story if no one will walk through the doors.

Here's some alternatives via Thesaurus.com:
Beacon Baptist
Landmark Baptist
Lighthouse Baptist
Guiding Light Baptist
Signal Baptist
Lamplight Baptist
Citadel Baptist
Lookout Baptist
Steeple Baptist
Tower Baptist
Bulwark Baptist
Bastille Baptist
Signal Fire Baptist
Sentinel Baptist
Watchfire Baptist
Overlook Baptist
Frontier Baptist
Perimeter Baptist
Compass Baptist
Horizon Baptist
Provision Baptist

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Yeah, the JW corrilation is bad. I take it as good practice to name a church based on its street location.

 

[Revmitchell]

The average person knows nothing about the Watchtower Society and JW's do nothing to promote it. There are no issues here.

 

[Salty]

My first impression was, "No way, bad choice". And I think first impressions are important.

Ditto

Though many may not realize what "Watchtower" is, there may be some out there that do. I would vote no.


How about VICTORY Baptist Church - at least the initials will be the same

 

[Marcia]

No to Watchtower Baptist. I would never want to saddle a congregation with that name. Too many people who know about the Watchtower Society would be confused.

I like some names already suggested, like Victory Baptist, Horizon Baptist, or using the street name, if possible, i.e., Maple Street Baptist.

 

[Servent]

Trust the LORD

 

[Salty]

Trust the LORD

instead of the Bap Board members? :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Marcia]

Trust the LORD

But the poster who put up the OP wants our views. Also, what does "trust the Lord" mean? That God will give the name of the church? How does one know that is from God?

 

[Tom Butler]

As a geezer, I do not relate well to church names such as Journey, Mosaic, or Dove Church. It sends a message to me that we old folks are not welcome. Avoid a name just because it sounds hip and modern.

 

[just-want-peace]

As a geezer, I do not relate well to church names such as Journey, Mosaic, or Dove Church. It sends a message to me that we old folks are not welcome. Avoid a name just because it sounds hip and modern.

As another old geezer, I agree with Tom on this; trying to get cutesy/relevant name (to moderns) would be a turn-off to me.

Also, the name "Watchtower" raised the JW connotation immediately to me - don't know how prevalent that would be though.

 

[tinytim]

Yep, I opened the OP, and as a habit, I scan the post quickly, without reading the OP first, if it looks interesting, I will then read the OP... and the first thing that jumped out was "Watchtower", and I immediately thought... OK, this post is going to be about JWs...

Sorry...

I too like the name of the street, or road, or village, or community.. that way whoever hears the name, automatically knows WHERE to go.

ON another note.. .Why not start out as a Bible Study in a house until you get more people... then look to organize the church.. a good 2-4 yr plan would be in order.
No need to rush into buying land, naming the church, etc...

Do a weekly meeting.. and let God guide.. .step by step.

 

[saturneptune]

I think whether the Lord is in the building of the church or not is much, much more important than the name. It seems that with the limited resources and obstacles you mention, it is prime working ground for the Lord. When the money is already in place from a super duper building fund given by the rich, the glory usually goes to the rich. It sounds like you know it is the will of God to go forward.

The name is entirely up to you. Maybe besides "Watchtower," you could come up with some other type of name that is a common theme of your saga in the establishment of the new church. I would avoid the name Pot Luck Baptist, as that is what 90% of them should be named.

 

[kyredneck]

Jehovah's Witnesses. What an excellent descripton of what we are (or should be). Why do THEY get to have that name and we get stuck being called Baptists?:tear::smilewinkgrin:

Go figure..........

 

[sag38]

"Watchtower Baptist Church
"A Southern Baptist Church, not affliated with Jehovah's Witnesses"

That should eliminate any problems.

 

[saturneptune]

Jehovah's Witnesses. What an excellent descripton of what we are (or should be). Why do THEY get to have that name and we get stuck being called Baptists?:tear::smilewinkgrin:

Go figure..........

Well, if the JW's took on the name Baptist, would the 144,000 be how many people got into heaven or how many were on the building committee to build the new Jerusalem?