Why are we changing
the name of our church?
Our proposed new name is in response to the new season of
life and ministry that God has been doing among us the past several years. We have been a community eager to
respond to God’s fresh work in our church and we sense that this is both a new
chapter and that a new name is an appropriate ceremonial symbol of our church’s
history and future. This will be
the third name in our 111 year history as a church.
Why is the name “The
Mills Church” significant?
The main significance is its association with God’s profound
work among us. There is a rich
story behind “the Mills Church” name that makes it special on a number of different
levels.
1) The Mills Church name was first used as
the unifying name of our 100 year history book (linking the first two chapters
of our church—Minnetonka Union Church and Minnetonka Community Church). Our future as a church is always
connected to our past and I love how The
Mills Church reminds us of our rich Christian Heritage. It also communicates to our
neighborhood that Minnetonka Community Church didn’t close down and is now
occupied by some other congregation.
The Mills Church signifies a new chapter in the life of the church that
is celebrating 111 years in the neighborhood. (The above picture depicts the plans for a banner that will
face baker road in front of the Annex.)
2) We are deeply committed to embody the
transforming life of Jesus in our neighborhood, city and world…starting right
here in the Minnetonka Mills neighborhood. Our name reminds us not only of our particular church
heritage but also our local ministry priority to start right here where we are.
3) The Mills Church is a name that
encourages us to tell the story of our church and how this community has
impacted each of us personally. It
invites each member to add the description of our church. One of the reasons we are excited about
this name change is that it causes us to think about our church afresh and it
is an opportunity for us to talk about this transforming community we are a
part of. I hope you take the
opportunities a simple name change can provide in having new conversations
about Jesus, our community and our creator. We believe that God’s preferred medium of communication is
people, not buildings, logos or signs.
So when you are asked the question “What Kind of Church is The Mills Church?” you now have a fresh opportunity to
tell your story. “I would love to
tell and show you what our church is like”. Remember, We are
the Church.
4) The name The mills church
reminds us that the God we serve is Personal
(God works locally, uniquely, and personally; Uncontainable (His
name is just an introduction to the infinite uncontainable God; and God has been at work Yesterday, Today, and Forever (We are
joining a God who has been working and weaving his redeeming history for
thousands of years and will continue his work into the future). I enjoy the name the Mills Church because it is personal, local and unique; it is not contained and invites
curiosity; and it is new and
historic—the name is a part of our history but also signals our future as a
Jesus community.
Why are we spending
time changing our name?
Our name is an important part of symbolizing our identity as
being a community that is responding to the present work of God in our
lives. We recognize that God
is not finished with this church and has a great future for us. Changing our name is a small way that
we can demonstrate that as a community we recognize that God has been at work
here in a unique way. We believe
that God has been preparing us and laying the foundation for an amazing future
in front of us and I believe it is important to mark this ceremonially.
Doing any amount of change in a church is a workout. And although this is a relatively small
change initiative, it is a great opportunity for us to develop muscles. We want to develop community muscles
necessary to be even more responsive and ready when God asks us to take more
significant steps together as a church.
Our aim is to be faithful and disciplined in these small matters so that
we will be ready and responsive when God entrusts us with bigger kingdom
matters.
Does the cross logo
have special meaning?
Yes, it was really important when we designed a logo to have the cross
be the central symbol for our church. The form of the Christian cross in our logo
incorporates different ways Christians have depicted the cross over many
centuries. Our desire is to illustrate that we are a local expression of the universal
body of Christ. Jesus’ death and
resurrection unites us with all Christians from every nation and it is our love
for each other that best puts Christ on display (Jn 13:34-35). We value being an interdenominational
church that is one part of the entire international body of Jesus Christ.
The circle around the cross is a traditional way of displaying eternal
life found in Christ and the everlasting holiness of the triune God. We also made a contemporary version of
a more ancient expression of the cross to celebrate the rootedness of our
church. We come from a long history of God's redemptive history going back to
the very first disciples of Jesus all the way up to us today. We are a part of something fresh that
God has been doing for thousands of years. Our logo aims to weave the ancient and the future together
since we serve an everlasting and loving God.
The other layer of the logo is to express our belief that God works
through real particular people, in real particular places, in real times. So our cross is also a subtle water
mill hinting at our location in the Minnetonka Mills neighborhood. The swirl at the bottom of the cross
represents water (both the living water which flows from Christ and the water that
runs through a flour mill). Most
of the images and stories that Jesus tells are agricultural and most of the ways
we actually grow spiritually adopt sound agricultural rather than industrial
principles, so I enjoy the subtle interplay between the agricultural and how
ministry and transformation actually happens.
The cross is a theological symbol of the incarnation of God in the flesh
of Jesus, and is a reminder of our calling to incarnate the life of Jesus here
and now. The water mill is a sign
of our calling to display what the reality of the cross looks like here in
Minnetonka Mills. This is what the
cross of Christ looks like here in this neighborhood. Because God ministers incarnationally, we also will minister
incarnationally.
When will the name
change take effect?
Pending the congregational vote on Sunday August 16th
, the new name will take effect on Kick off Sunday, September 13th.
Will the name
Minnetonka Community Church still be used in any capacity?
Yes, we will maintain Minnetonka Community Church as a DBA
(Do Business As) name. This way
any business transactions will remain unaffected in the name transition. (ie…you can write a check out to the
Mills Church or Minnetonka Community Church.) There is a $35 fee to register our new name with the sate.
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