Becoming a Community of Communities for South West Christchurch and our church name.
Introduction – this proposal seeks to bring together our sense of God's leading in local mission over many years which has been excentuated with our focus on developing local communities in south west Christchurch. In line with this mission calling we are proposing a change to the church name to better reflect our missional platform.
Having a primary emphasis toward south west Christchurch is not a new idea. Many years ago the church leadership sensed a primary mission focus to the South West (marked by Colombo St and the railway line). This focus has been expressed in the planting of Halswell Baptist Church, placement of area congregations; the emergence of and ongoing commitment to Community Ministries and the more recent planting of locally based communities. For many years south west Christchurch has been our first priority mission focus[1].
Now the south west is changing. Post-earthquake Christchurch is anticipating rapid and significant residential growth. This is an area without sufficient community facilities, including churches, for the anticipated growth in population.
Added to this are our initial steps toward developing a local community in Halswell. Starting this initiative led to conversations with Halswell Baptist that have themselves led to the two churches looking to becoming one church united in mission for the south west.
1. A New Name
As we invest our energy and the weave of our combined relational strength in local communities plus our specialist support skills in community ministries in the south west we need a shared identity that reflects who we are becoming. We are therefore considering a change of name to South West Community Church.
Changing our name is a big shift. The 'Spreydon Baptist' name is well known and respected and it has wide recognition in the local community, our city and throughout NZ and Australia. We are fully aware of the significance of the change being proposed both in the changes to how we operate as a church and the change of our name, which is reflective of our mission heart. But we are a church that will do whatever it takes to see God's local mission realized; including change our name[2].
The reason for the proposed name change is to support our mission heart. We want a name which reflects this focus. While the name 'Spreydon' helps our connection and relationship with people and organisations (e.g. schools, rest homes etc) in Spreydon it is a hurdle for those in other suburbs.
2. South West Community Church
We need a name which reflects who we are becoming – a community of communities in South West Christchurch for the transformation of individuals lives[3] and the transformation of communities[4] of South West Christchurch.
In changing the name we could move to either a wider 'geographically based name' (e.g. South West) or a generic name (e.g Faith church, Redeemer church, 'Praise centre', 'Cosmos'). A wider geographically based name is consistent with our existing name, it links with our local community strategy for south west Christchurch and could be easily adopted by Halswell and a new church site[5].
We are not suggsting a generic name because it does not mesh with our history, strategy or mission focus. Added to this is the problem of which generic name would we choose? While 'Redeemer' fits strongly with our mission statement it is not a word that is understood in the wider community. Any other name would be 'plucked' out of the air and inevitably be favoured by some and not others -e.g. 'Faith church' or 'Energiser church'.
The new name could include our denomination base – 'Baptist'. The key advantage of including our denominational affiliation is to give a suspicious person a sense of denominational safety. While adding 'Baptist' links us with a wider denominational structure we don't believe it helps our mission. The 'Baptist' name is significant for older Christians but far less significant for those outside the Christian faith and younger people for whom denominationalism is increasingly irrelevant. There is a noticeable trend away from denominational names including within Baptist churches in New Zealand. For many it is simply another 'hurdle' a non-believer has to navigate.
3. Process
We are asking the church to consider, discuss, pray and give feedback about the name change between now and mid Feb next year. The leadership will consider all the feedback, conversations and prayer and a recommendation for the AGM.
At the AGM (April 2013) a proposal for a name change would be decided by an agreed vote of the church – 66% of the members voting[6]. This meeting date and the feedback from the prior informal meeting would be explained in church gatherings, our website and newsletter. The vote of the meeting would be determinative.
[1] In the vocabulary of Acts 1 v 8 the south west is our Jerusalem. Acts 1 v 8 "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The south west is our primary or home base in mission from which our wider mission endeavours flow.
[2] What we now call Spreydon Baptist church started in 1865 in a small whare in a paddock near Wrights Rd. When a building was purpose built on Lincoln Road the church was named the 'Lincoln Road Baptist Church'. When the Lincoln Road Baptist church combined with a church plant of the Colombo Street Baptist Church (which was already on Lyttelton St opposite West Spreydon School) the new combined church took the name 'Spreydon Baptist'. From this history we see a prior willingness to change the name of the church, to combine with another Baptist church and a geographically based name for the church which reflects both where it is located and its community.
[3] Our vision statement states that we seek to see "people becoming life-long followers" of Jesus Christ. This is the ongoing personal transformation that we are committed to.
[4] Our vision statement states - "we aspire to be a redemptive community sharing the love of Christ through word, sign and deed." Our hope is that we will see communities transformed (redeemed) as a result.
[5] If we were to build a new church hub in the Wigram area.
[6] Constitutionally the church name is "Spreydon Baptist Church." alterations to the constitution require a majority of two thirds of the members at a church meeting." Procedurally the constitution states –"Notice of proposed alterations or amendments to the constitution shall be given to the church on the two Sundays prior to the meeting." The two thirds threshold is consistent with the constitutional support needed for an elder.
