About the Word "Baptist"

At our September 15 congregation business meeting, the Elders intro­duced a pro­posal to remove the word “Baptist” from our church name.  And last Sunday during our worship gatherings, Elder Chair­man Russ Nixon shared this recommenda­tion with the church family.  (See the insert in this bulletin for a summary of the issues & process.)

So what’s in a name?  And what do we communicate through our long-standing church name, “Goshen Baptist Church”?

The answer is, “It depends on who’s being asked.”  For some, the name is neutral, almost invisible—we’re just that church on Rte. 3 or on the hill or that has a fine Preschool or that runs a basketball league for kids, and so on.  For others, our denominational identifier is a plus:  people who’ve come from a Baptist background and had a good experience find it helpful that “Baptist” is in our name.

But for another sector of the population, “Baptist” is a word that raises red flags.  To be sure, some of the stereotypes around this term are not well founded.  For example, the idea that Baptists are strict, shrill, and legalistic (a religion of “don’ts”) is often untrue, of course.  But that general impression is still out there; many people associate negative ideas with the term “Baptist” and then turn away.

And so, let me challenge you:  The key question before us is not whether we’re okay with our existing name.  Rather, it’s whether we’re thinking about our name in terms of our mission:  How does “Baptist” facilitate our mission to love our neighbors to Christ, and how might it hinder us in that calling?  Is our name more of a bridge or a wall when it comes to our reach into the community?

It’s true, a few decades ago it was “perfectly normal” to include the standard denominational identifiers in a church name (e.g., Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.).  But familiarity with and an appreciation of denominational affiliation as dropped off dramatically here in the 21st century, and that’s the world we live in.  Are we—are you—willing to make a surface change to avoid sending a negative message?  I am.  I think removing “Baptist” from our church name is a wise move forward to help us open our arms to our neighbors.