Matt, Heather, Jones & Macrae:

ChurchVenture  HOME PAGE

Our passion is to build communities that are loyal to Jesus.

Please ...

  1. Watch our video
  2. Subscribe to our blog
  3. Consider supporting us. Follow the green button ...
Watch Video Full Screen

Friday, March 27, 2009

119 Cool Church Names

Special update: I wrote a book for churches to give to first-time guests. It’s had a huge impact at bringing more people back as second-time guests and adding them into the church community. Get the Kindle version of Unforgettable: Your purpose in Christ here and the print version from unforgettableness.com. Those outside the USA may need to order print copies from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.eu.
In the process of trying to think through a name for our new church in Chicago I brainstormed an initial list of 156 names. Some were so ridiculous that I had to remove them from this list, which now contains some less ridiculous names. 

I will not reveal here what the new churches name is. I'll be sharing that with the core group in a few weeks. In choosing a name I wanted to keep these things in mind:
  1. Something simple. One or two words with the word "church" after it. People need to know we are a church, so having "church" is important to me. Some exclude this, but I personally think that is a mistake. I wanted one or two words because some church names are so long it's hard to say them. I want things to be simple in this regard. 
  2. Would the unchurched be more or less likely to visit purely based on the name?
  3. Would the name connect with Christians?
  4. Be certain no other churches in close proximity had this name.
  5. Something that would work in different locations around the city.
  6. I felt that it was important to find something non-traditional, because we are targeting a younger urban crowd, yet something not too wacky that would turn away Christians who are looking for a church. 

I went through the process of having a number of Christians present 4 possible names to their unchurched friends in Chicago and pose this question: Purely based on the name, which church would you be most likely to visit if a friend invited you or if you saw an advertisement? This process was VERY eye opening and SHOCKING to some degree. Christians and unchurched people had widely different reactions to the names. I could not have predicted how our unchurched friends would have responded to the options. 

After hearing both sides, we have chosen a name. We'll reveal it soon, so checkout the brainstorm list and watch this space ... 


119 Cool Church Names (some aren't so cool!)
  1. ONELOVE church
  2. Recreate church
  3. Eklesia church
  4. Connect church
  5. CHURCH CAST
  6. The Race Church
  7. NewGlobe Church
  8. NewChurch
  9. Restorer Church
  10. Defender Church
  11. Rescuer Church
  12. Giver Church
  13. Act Church
  14. The Overture Church
  15. The Endeavor Church
  16. First Act Church
  17. Venture Church
  18. Great Endeavor Church
  19. The Exchange Church
  20. Truth Church
  21. The Source Church
  22. All Things New Church
  23. Pitch Church
  24. The Launch Church
  25. OutSetChurch
  26. Link Church
  27. Encounter Church
  28. 24 CHURCH
  29. First Love Church
  30. Replenish Church
  31. Global Church
  32. The Center Church
  33. CONNECTION CHURCH 
  34. Epic Venture Church
  35. The Root Church
  36. DANGERMOUSE Church (added for tobiwan)
  37. Renewal Church
  38. Renew Church
  39. OneWayChurch
  40. Landmark Church
  41. Century Church
  42. Central Church
  43. CleanSlate Church
  44. TombStone Church
  45. Kinetic Church
  46. Movement Church
  47. Motion Church
  48. Activate Church
  49. Dynamic Church
  50. Rhythm Church 
  51. Pulse Church
  52. Beat Church
  53. Sound Church
  54. Special update: I wrote a book for churches to give to first-time guests. It’s had a huge impact at bringing more people back as second-time guests and adding them into the church community. Get the Kindle version of Unforgettable: Your purpose in Christ here and the print version from unforgettableness.com. Those outside the USA may need to order print copies from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.eu.
  55. New Music Church
  56. Portal Church
  57. Music of Life Church
  58. Rhythm of Life Church
  59. Reactivate Church  
  60. TheCause
  61. LIFECAUSE Church
  62. BeTheCause Church 
  63. Motif Church
  64. Designers Church
  65. ThePattern
  66. LifePattern
  67. PatternOfLife Church 
  68. TheDesign
  69. Redesign Church
  70. TheSketch
  71. Objective Church
  72. CityBeat
  73. Fresh Church
  74. Start Church
  75. TheFigure
  76. TheCrux
  77. TheCore
  78. Guardian Church 
  79. Keeper Church
  80. Director Of Life Church
  81. One Church
  82. The Messenger 
  83. Messenger Church
  84. Message Church 
  85. Stream Church
  86. Streaming Church
  87. LIGHT CHURCH
  88. VIBE Church
  89. Verve Church 
  90. Manifold Church
  91. Home Church 
  92. Open House Church
  93. Propulsion Church
  94. View Church
  95. Vision Church
  96. Honor Church
  97. Celebration Church 
  98. Churchopolis 
  99. Churchopia 
  100. Star Church
  101. Jesus Church
  102. New Tribe
  103. Kin Church
  104. Commit Church
  105. Change Church 
  106. Resolution Church 
  107. Enthuse Church 
  108. Overflow Church
  109. Drive Church
  110. Enter Church
  111. Embark Church
  112. Purpose Church
  113. Multiply Church 
  114. Reproduce Church
  115. Celebrate Church
  116. Access Church
  117. New Deal Church
  118. Joy Church
  119. Crimson Church 
  120. Red Church
Special update: I wrote a book for churches to give to first-time guests. It’s had a huge impact at bringing more people back as second-time guests and adding them into the church community. Get the Kindle version of Unforgettable: Your purpose in Christ here and the print version from unforgettableness.com. Those outside the USA may need to order print copies from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.eu.




Monday, March 9, 2009

200 Prayer Team for the Chicago Church Plant

One of the most common mistakes that new churches make is to underestimate the level of spiritual warfare involved in church planting. Therefore, it is our desire to gather a BIG team of prayer partners who are willing to pray through a monthly (or sometimes weekly) itemized prayer list. Basically, if you are breathing and if you have an email address, you can sign up for this!

Our goal is to gather 200 prayer partners. As of a few minutes ago we had 67. I'm hoping that after this blog post we can bump it up quite a bit more! I'm counting on you! Here is how you sign up and pray for us:
  1. Visit http://www.churchplantchicago.com/
  2. Click "Join the prayer team" on the black box on the right
  3. Fill in your name and email address (please make sure you spell your email correctly!)
  4. CLICK THE LINK in the confirmation email. (VERY important step)
  5. As you receive prayer requests please take time out of your week to pray through them.
The process is very straightforward. When you are on the site please checkout the other things we have going on. Post a comment and share it with others who might be interested. 

Signing up for the prayer team will also be a good way to stay on top of our news and developments. 

Please visit: http://www.churchplantchicago.com/ and become a prayer partner!