Unfortunately, that name has also worked against us locally. In fact, two of our most beloved families resisted visiting GCA for two years because they assumed that we were affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination. Meanwhile, they were praying that God would raise up a Reformed church here in Smyrna. They drove by our building regularly and saw the sign, but they never ventured in. Then they saw an article I wrote in the local paper, checked out the website, and realized that we were exactly what they were looking for. And now we can't get rid of them. :-)
We've had several AoG visistors through the years. You can imagine their discomfort when they discover -- usually somewhere midway through the service -- that there's no one speaking in tongues and they are surrounded by Calvinists (eek!).
So, earlier this year we had a serious discussion about changing our name. After all, there's no point in confusing people, and if the name is the problem, then we'll just change it! But, it turns out that "just" changing our name was a more complicated venture than we had originally realized. The tax-exempt corporation and our 501(c)3 status is all filed under that name. It would be costly and time consuming to change all of that. Back to the drawing board.
The more we discussed it, the more we realized that what we had was really a local problem. The folk on the Internet have never once questioned our name. In fact, most Internet visitors just know us as "GCA" and haven't given any real thought to the word "assembly." This ministry has become identified by our logo.
So we decided to compromise. In order to get the word "Assembly" off our sign, we wanted a new sign with a new design. Our hope is that the new design will catch people's eyes and plant the "salvation by grace" phrase in their memories so that they'll check out the website. Today, as I was driving home and passed our building, I noticed that the new sign was complete. I quickly snapped a few photos with my Droid phone.
Nothing's going to change at the website. We're still GCA. We're still an assembly of Christians who believe in God's free and sovereign grace. But now the local folk will see our new image. And hopefully, we will disappoint far fewer tongue-talking visitors. Man, just say the word "predestination" to an AoG advocate and watch them squirm. :-)
Finally, I want to thank my friend-of-nearly-33-years, Tim Ellyson up in Michigan, for his graphic design work. He offered to help and we were happy to take him up on his offer. As you can see, the end result is quite readable, quite professional, and quite cool.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome.
