Dave Spencer, co-pastor of a church in Concord, New Hampshire, was interviewed recently by National Public Radio about why his church felt the need to drop its overt affiliation with the Baptist denomination by changing the church's name from First Baptist Church to Center Point Church.

"Someone was willing to go, and all of the sudden they found it was a Baptist church. That just kind of freaked them out and they pulled back," Spencer said. "And that story would be repeated over and over again."

Many pastors are convinced that the name of their church is holding them back from effectively reaching their community. But can a church's name really be that important? Wouldn't the church we call Lutheran, Methodist or Presbyterian by any other name still "smell as sweet?"

Names are for church people

People who favor removing their congregation's denominational affiliation from their name often are looking to update their image to reflect a newer, more contemporary approach to church. Changing your name to a more contemporary one may attract people who are interested in more contemporary worship experience or something new.

Usually, however, these people tend to be Christians who already are involved in church but are bored with the worship experience there. Research from Thom Rainer in his book "Surprising Insights form the Unchurched" shows that 81 percent of the previously unchurched did not let the name of a church influence their decision to visit. The people more likely to select a church based on name (22 percent) were churchgoers already.

Furthermore, if those churchgoers were attracted primarily by your new name, you may want to consider how loyal they will be to your church when a church down the street adopts a more aggressive marketing campaign than yours? If people are so easily swayed by something new, or a slick advertising campaign, your church will only be as good to them as your last promotion.

Disassociating from a denomination

Perhaps the biggest reason churches want to drop their denominational affiliation from their name is to put aside negative impressions people have toward their denomination. A name change is seen as a solution that will help the church establish a reputation based on their local ministry, not the reputation of their denomination.

However, breaking with your denomination's reputation rubs both ways. Sure, your denomination may have its historic blemishes, but what about the good things your denomination does? The major denominations have a good side to their history, too. Think about the many great schools, hospitals and orphanages. What about all the missionary and humanitarian work that your denomination also sponsors. Unchurched people may be far more willing to appreciate the good things your denomination does. Most likely, however, they don't know or think about your denomination at all.

Unchurched people do not have as negative an opinion about denominationalism as ministry leaders tend to believe they have. They are far more likely to have a neutral opinion. Meaning they don't know about your denomination, or really care to think much about it. Being neutral is not the same as being negative.

Your own congregation, on the other hand, may get a negative message about your denomination if you decide to drop the affiliation from your name. This could affect your denomination's ministry impact in ways you may not have intended as support for the positive aspects of your denomination begins to fail.

Impact the denomination

If you are concerned about your church's reputation due to your denomination's character, perhaps what you really need to do is take positive steps to make sure your denomination moves in a direction that improves the reputation and effectiveness of evangelism in all the churches associated with the name.

Can your church be a positive influence on your sister churches by disassociated from them? By not changing your church's name you may become a force of change in your denomination. Your church could help raise the standards of evangelism of other churches in your denomination. If churches that make positive changes in ministry remain affiliated, their denomination may benefit from their influence.

Assess church health

Will a name change really create a culture for evangelism in your church or will it instigate a culture of conflict? Churches that make the change often find that they lose members and that a new name creates schisms between members who stay. That's not a healthy environment for new believers.

Make sure church health is as high a priority as church growth to your leadership. Unchurched people don't care what your church is called. They care if your church cares. Find ways to improve your church's ministry outreach by meeting needs. If all that changes at your church is the marketing message, you'll have the same outreach problems you have had in the past. Church health is what drives your ministry's impact in the community—not the name you happen to have. Consider conducting a Church Health Survey from Church Central to find out what really is holding your church back from reaching people.

Chris Forbes is the founder of MinistryMarketingCoach.com and has been in ministry since 1989, serving as an international missionary, strategy leader, media strategist, and marketplace researcher. He speaks and writes nationally on the subject of ministry marketing.