Pro: People who favor removing their congregation denominational affiliation by not overtly affiliating through their church name often are looking to update their image to reflect a newer, more contemporary approach to church. Changing your name to a more contemporary one may attract people who are interested in more contemporary worship experience.
 

Con: The people who are looking for more contemporary worship experiences tend to be Christians who already are involved in church but are bored with the worship experience there. Research done by Thom Rainer of the previously unchurched in his book “Surprising Insights form the Unchurched” showed that 89% said they did not let the name of a church influence their decision to visit. The more likely to select a church based on name (22%) were people who were already involved in another church.

Reason: Your Church Can Project a Fresh Identity and Put behind Negative Associations from Denominational Politics

Pro: The biggest reason churches want to drop their denominational affiliation is because they want to put aside objections they fear people will have from negative impressions people have toward their denomination. A name change is seen as a solution that will help the church establish a reputation based on their local ministry, not the reputation of their denomination.
 

Con: Breaking with your denomination’s reputation rubs both ways. Sure, your denomination may have its historic blemishes, but what about the good things your denomination does? The major denominations have a good side to their history too. Think about the many great schools, hospitals, orphanages, missionary work and humanitarian work that your denomination also sponsors. Unchurched people are far more willing to appreciate the good things your denomination does than you may realize.

Reason: Changing the church name will help the church’s marketing have more impact since the local church cannot afford to do all the marketing needed to change negative perceptions about their entire denomination among the unchurched.

Pro: A new name can send a signal to the community that they can expect new things from your church. People who ignore your church’s outreach due to the name might become more open to promotional efforts from your church. That is, if they notice them at all.
 

Con: Unchurched people do not have as negative an opinion about denominationalism as ministry leaders tend to believe they have. They are far more likely to have a neutral opinion. Meaning they don’t know about your denomination, or really care to think much about it. Being neutral is not the same as being negative. 

Will your church be able to do the marketing required to “re-brand” your church’s image in your community? Many churches are ill equipped to handle basic marketing tasks. Your church may have a better chance at being memorable to people with your limited marketing budget by keeping your affiliation in your church’s name. You may be creating more marketing problems for yourself than you are solving. 

While thinking about the messages you may be sending to unchurched people, consider what message you may be sending to your congregation. They will notice your marketing. By dropping your overt affiliation with your denomination, you may be inadvertently sending the message that there is something bad about your denomination. This could affect your denomination’s ministry impact in ways you may not have intended as support for the good things your denomination does begins to fail.

Reason: Changing the church name is not meant to disassociate with the denomination, but to create more opportunity for evangelism. New people will be introduced to the denomination through member orientation.

Pro: The church doesn’t need to drop it’s affiliation with the denomination they only need to filter the information about the denomination after people have been evangelized. People will become believers before they are aware they have become members of the denomination. Other successful churches have used this model with positive effect.
 

Con: Yes you can change your name in the name of reaching people. But is hiding the name of your denomination ethical? How will a new church member feel who had specific reasons why they did not like your particular denomination, when they find out you have manipulated them into joining the very group they disliked? How will that impact your evangelism when the word gets out? 
 

Church members who join a church that downplays their denomination may not become as loyal to the denomination as leaders think after being introduced through a new member’s class. Besides, they may not even pay attention to that part of your church orientation. 

You Need to Make Your Own Conclusions with Accurate Information

Each church needs to weight the pros and cons of making the switch to new name or a commitment to keeping your denominational affiliation according to their congregation’s values. Here are a few more items for your consideration:

Be aware of your personal biases. Your perception that people have negative reaction to your denominational name may be based on your research bias. You may have the preconceived notion there is a negative connotation to your name, and will tend to notice anything that confirms that theory. You would be less likely to notice when people validate your denomination. National research always shows people are not as concerned about the name of a church as the ministry leaders are. The fact is you know more about the negative things that are happening in your denomination than unchurched people do. As they say, “familiarity breeds contempt.”
 

What is the motivation behind your desire to change the name of your church? If you are concerned about your church’s reputation due to your denomination’s character, perhaps what you really need to do is take positive steps to make sure your denomination moves in a direction that improves the reputation and effectiveness of evangelism in all the churches associated with the name. 
 

Can your church be a positive influence on your sister churches by disassociated from them? By not changing your church’s name you may become a force of change in your denomination. Your church could help raise the standards of evangelism of other churches in your denomination. If churches that have made positive changes in how they minister to people and changed their name had remained affiliated, their denomination would have benefited from their influence. Now, they are considered as outsiders to their group and have less impact than they would have had.
 

Will the name change really create a culture for evangelism in your church?  Churches that make the change often find that their church loses members and causes schisms between members who stay in the congregation. That is not a healthy environment for new believers. The church mentioned in the article link above, changed the name of their church and gained 150 members. This sounds impressive, until you consider they also alienated and lost 200 former members. 
How will you keep new people’s interest after you attract them? How loyal will the new people be to your church when a church down the street adopts a more aggressive marketing campaign than yours? If people are so easily swayed by advertising, you are only as good as your next promotion.
 

Make sure church health is as high a priority as church growth to your leadership. Unchurched people don’t care what your church is called they care if your church cares. Find ways to improve your church’s ministry outreach by meeting needs. If all that changes at your church is the marketing message, you will have the same outreach problems you have had in the past. Church health is what drives your ministry’s impact in the community not the name brand you happen to have. Consider conducting a Church Health Survey from Church Central to find out what really is holding your church back from reaching people.

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