Sunday, July 1, 2007

Rector's Spot - Is St Andrew's the best name for us?

Today in my Rector's Spot I raised a question about the name of our congregation. Is the name St Andrew's the best name for us as we undertake mission in our area?

The name we use for our congregation is a powerful tool for communicating who we are and what we are on about. In our mission we want to put everything to our advantage.

Over the next two months I want to talk about this issue in our congregation, with Parish Council and with our Church Wardens.

Please note - this discussion is not about the name of our building, it will remain as St Andrew's.

6 comments:

Gordon Cheng said...

Summer Hill Church sounds nice!

It sounds summery.

It sounds hilly.

Both good things.

Christopher Braga said...

Gordo, you have inspired me.... Summer Hillsong.

It too sounds hilly, summery with the bonus of being singy...or was that silly?

SamR said...

What about "Summer Hill Community Church".

michael jensen said...

Just so long as you don't call it a Bible church. We don't worship a Bible...

Christopher Braga said...

Justin left a comment on a another post suggesting "Summer Hill International Anglican Church". I like the 'international' bit since it is deliberately trying to welcome people from every nation.

'Community' is good since it is trying to capture something of what we are, but attaching it to Summer Hill limits its scope. Even our small parish takes up bits of Dulwich Hill and Ashfield.

'Bible Church' I suppose this name is trying to be deliberately 'non-liberal'. We certainly don't worship a Bible! What would be good is to have a name that connects with those from a post-Christian and non-Christian background in some way.

Anonymous said...

Summer Hill Village Church, emphasising the friendly, local and community-based nature of Summer Hill. Just a thought!
Regards,
Lou Fortescue