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TechnoratiIn a unique case, American Baptist Churches USA saw one of its 35 regions rename itself earlier this year. American Baptist Churches of the West was unofficially renamed Growing Healthy Churches in January.
According to the executive minister of the region, Paul D. Borden, the name change was "to give churches the option of whether they want to use 'American Baptists' as the group they're identified with or 'GHC.'"
With controversies happening at the national level in different denominations, Borden explained, "some churches find that hurts their ability to do mission at the local level."
Outside the many Baptist denominations, leaving out denominational titles is a continuing trend more so than a growing trend.
"This was a bigger issue for us 10 years ago than it is now," said Dave Daubert, director for Renewal of Congregations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. "But we have a significant subset of our churches who still think it's fairly important to leave it (denominational label) out."
Leaving out the label may initially attract the community, but surveys have shown that a large percentage of newcomers come to church on the arm of a friend.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville, Ky., conducted a U.S. Congregational Life Survey in April 2001 and found that new people are more likely to come if someone invited them with 48 percent saying they go to church because of an invitation.
Claggett highlighted an instance when one fairly new person said she would not have come if she knew Countryside was a Baptist church. When she discovered the church's Baptist affiliation, she was surprised. She continues to attend the church today.
"If there are people in the community who have a negative impression of what Baptists are, that's one thing to have a negative impression. But each individual local church still has to build its local reputation in the community," noted Claggett.
"I would ... hope that the reputation of the Church would precede the [denominational label]."
