Naming a church is a dicey business. After all, you want a name that has meaning to those who are already there but is also welcoming to
those who are not. You want something catchy and modern but the church is ancient and timeless. You don’t want the same name as every other church in town yet there really are a limited number of names that communicate qualities of the church based on qualities of Jesus. Because house churches in theory could be anywhere, you don’t want to name it something too specific to a location. You want a name of which you would not be ashamed in 5 years as too old school or too trendy. You presume that you would know whether you have met these criteria based on your understanding yet the very people you want to appeal to do not even know you exist yet. So, what to do about a name? What if you have ‘buyer’s remorse’ with the name? What if people confuse you with some other church or worse yet, with some other kind of business like, say, the strip club down the street? You have to have cards to give to people you meet but you still don’t know your name. What to do, what to do? If you have the straightforward but slightly humorous streak I do, you admit the issue right up front. My cards say I’m pastor of No-Name-Yet United Methodist House Church Community. While we are working on a name, everyone knows this isn’t really our final name but they do remember us! And, we have an identity, no
matter how unnamed, to tide us over until we figure it all out. Have some suggestions? Send them my way!