Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Bad Time For Name Change?

Posted by pghpromo on 10/19/2007 at 1:34 AM ET 125 Points
Hello, fellow marketers,

My wife's Presbyterian church (PCUSA) has been around for 50 years with a bi-monthly newsletter entitled "The Vision," currently edited by my wife. This names stems from a Bible quote in Proverbs, "Where there is no vision, the people will perish," which was most often written within the newsletter's masthead. The pastors are thinking of changing it, and here is why:

Two smaller Presbyterian congregations have divested themselves of overly-costly buildings and combined with my wife's church at its facility, which is in the middle of a capital campaign for expansion. For now, the pastors have all become co-pastors under one roof, and their separate congregations will continue to maintain their own committees, deacons, bank accounts, membership, etc. Meanwhile, all pastors have been promoting cross-participation at various events. I can only assume their long-term strategy is to become one melting pot community rather than maintain their hyphenated congregationism, but I don't really know this for sure.

Starting in November, the two newcomer congregations are (finally) rolling their own newsletter contents into "The Vision." The pastors have blithely been discussing a name change for it, perhaps, "The New Vision." Mind you, it's even been suggested that my wife's church change its own name to reflect this new chapter in shared history. It seems the pastors are leery of acknowledging that the biggest church could be the primary/surviving entity; perhaps newcomers don't want to feel they've been absorbed. Dynamics here are not unlike those of a corporate merger, just less organized. But RE: newsletter name change: Seems to me that one of these congregations needs to maintain its history and culture AND BRAND IDENTITY. And, metaphorically speaking, the church's vision (intrinsically linked to its newsletter title via Proverbs) really isn’t “new” merely because of a sudden influx of participants.

So, I'm thinking a name change is the wrong thing to do here, but I'm just one guy who attends a different church up the street. My editor wife has requested I schedule a courtesy call with her pastor. But first, I welcome your thoughts or suggestions regarding any aspect of this scenario--maybe some recommendations for how the church *should* be going about considering such far-reaching changes. Floor is open, and thanks.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 10/19/2007 at 8:43 AM Accepted
    From the perspective of the members of the church - do they see their churches as sharing the buildings or joining together in a bigger entity?

    If they are simply sharing the space, then there's no reason to create a single newsletter - even if they are cross-promoting. Keep each identify separate, and cross-promote events in the proper section of the newsletter.

    If they are joining together, then the newsletter can be a vehicle to help blur the historical differences and focus on the commonalities. Each pastor could have their own column, so everyone can become familiar with their style and viewpoints. The message of the whole newsletter would be the church community, not the pastor's congregation.

    Changing the name of the newsletter as an issue is a red herring - the issue is much deeper. Focus on the long-term church strategy, and then have the newsletter mirror it. Perhaps as an interim naming solution, "The Joint Vision"
  • Posted by pghpromo on 10/26/2007 at 2:24 AM Author
    Fine observations by all, thank you. I agree (and have discussed with my wife on multiple prior occasions) the congregations have major issues as they determine how to integrate over the next few years. It's just that the newsletter name came up for question most recently, and I can't just sit by idly while they might trick themselves into thinking a name change at this time is going to somehow accomplish anything. (A "red herring," as Jay Hamilton-Roth rightly called it.)

    At this time, the three pastors seem not to know yet how the congregations will integrate, if at all, so I passed along your replies to my wife's pastor and hopefully he will take them under advisement. Meanwhile, I encouraged both him and my editor wife to keep the newsletter name unchanged until things are more certain.

    Thanks again.
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