Access Church

Certainly a rose by any name is just as sweet, but when you name your child or your church, you choose carefully. A number of our core team members have contemplated this question for months with the intent to choose a name that will serve to describe what's at the very heart of our new church.

Church should be a place where people of all backgrounds feel welcome. There should be no unwritten rules to follow before you can be accepted. Everyone should find church to be a safe place where they can ask questions about God and not feel judged. We want church to be a place where everyone feels included, even those who have never been to church before in their lives. I mean, really, isn't that the whole point of church? To help people who don't feel all that close to God find out what He's really like?

Since we didn't know what part of town we'll eventually be meeting in, we couldn't choose a geographic name like North Point, and we wanted a name that would evoke all of the above. We wanted to be distinctive. Securing an available domain was also important. We contacted some naming consultants and spent a good deal of time reading on the value of a name when building a new identity.

So, we've just received approval from the state of Florida to operate using our new name, Access Church, because we really believe that church should provide a relational point of contact for everyone to know the one true God and all of His love for us.

I can't say thanks enough to Brad, Zoie, Dianne, Chip, Susan, and Katherine, who arrived at this name together, and many of you reading this blog who offered valuable push-back through the process. Let's pray that this body of Christ lives out the name and provides excellent environments that help people connect with God, each other, and those outside the church.