How to Change the Name of Your Church?

When a church is launched, there are many choices that have to be made just to get the ball rolling? One of those things is the church name. It’s difficult to fully understand what your church personality will be when you have no members yet. Picking a name can sometimes be like picking it out of a hat. Our church started with a generic name that we later found out that 5 other churches had in our community. That makes it very difficult to explain to people in your community which one of the 5 churches you attend. We also didn’t feel it was very reflective of the church. With this in mind, we announced last month that we will be changing our name from Olathe Life Fellowship to Mercy Church. Here are some things to consider when changing the name of your church:

1. Get your people used to the idea that change within our culture and within organizations is inevitable. Read “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard.
2. Get your people anticipating some exciting news.
3. Only include key decision makers in your name ideas. Voting always alienates someone.
4. Pick a cool name that fits your church.
5. Give your church a transition period for everyone to get used to the name. We will have a 4 month transition.
6. Make sure the logo is cool. See my previous post on this.
7. Ask other churches how they changed their name. Here's a blog post from Gary Lamb when they changed the name of their church.
8. Just do it.