February 13th, 2025
by Dr. Spencer Plumlee
by Dr. Spencer Plumlee
An “Elevator Pitch” is a quick explanation of something in roughly 30-60 seconds. It envisions an employee of a large corporation finding themselves on an elevator with the boss and having a brief opportunity to share an idea. The value of this exercise is clarity. It forces clarity of thought and communication that makes something important simple and clear . Up until now, I've written longer posts to deal with topics and issues around the name change. In this post, I’d like to simply, succinctly and hopefully clearly explain the rationale for the name change.
Here goes:
I believe we need to change from the name First Baptist Church to a name that exalts Christ and removes the word “Baptist.” Confusion about the word “Baptist” is rampant. Different denominations, painful past experiences, and even our own challenges as a church the last 25 years shape this confusion. Culturally, denominational loyalty is very low. Most people, especially under 50, do not move to town to look for a denominational church as much as they do a healthy church with good preaching, worship and kids ministries. Because of this shift, keeping “Baptist” in our name doesn’t help us like it used to, say, 25 years ago when denominational loyalty was higher. Finally, communicating who we are will be better served with a theologically rooted name instead of a denominationally rooted name. A church name should communicate who we are to people not here yet. Our polity, philosophy, ministry, worship style and more are not best communicated by leaving “Baptist” in the name. A name that includes a clear affirmation of unwavering loyalty to Christ is better than a confusing message about our connection to a denomination that conjures a multitude of erroneous perceptions.
Increasingly, our elders will shift our prayerful attention from the possibility of a name change to a specific name that exalts Christ. I think moving from just considering the possibility of a name change to an actual proposal will be immensely helpful. This shift will officially take place on 3/2 at our 4pm presentation. This meeting is maybe one of the most important in our church’s life. Please make plans now to attend.
I hope this “elevator pitch” helps continue the prayerful conversation in this season of church’s life.
Dr. Spencer Plumlee
Senior Pastor
Here goes:
I believe we need to change from the name First Baptist Church to a name that exalts Christ and removes the word “Baptist.” Confusion about the word “Baptist” is rampant. Different denominations, painful past experiences, and even our own challenges as a church the last 25 years shape this confusion. Culturally, denominational loyalty is very low. Most people, especially under 50, do not move to town to look for a denominational church as much as they do a healthy church with good preaching, worship and kids ministries. Because of this shift, keeping “Baptist” in our name doesn’t help us like it used to, say, 25 years ago when denominational loyalty was higher. Finally, communicating who we are will be better served with a theologically rooted name instead of a denominationally rooted name. A church name should communicate who we are to people not here yet. Our polity, philosophy, ministry, worship style and more are not best communicated by leaving “Baptist” in the name. A name that includes a clear affirmation of unwavering loyalty to Christ is better than a confusing message about our connection to a denomination that conjures a multitude of erroneous perceptions.
Increasingly, our elders will shift our prayerful attention from the possibility of a name change to a specific name that exalts Christ. I think moving from just considering the possibility of a name change to an actual proposal will be immensely helpful. This shift will officially take place on 3/2 at our 4pm presentation. This meeting is maybe one of the most important in our church’s life. Please make plans now to attend.
I hope this “elevator pitch” helps continue the prayerful conversation in this season of church’s life.
Dr. Spencer Plumlee
Senior Pastor
Posted in Newsletter
2 Comments
Thank you for letting us see your heart behind this issue. I'm praying for our church to reach a Christ honoring decision that will further unify us as a body and enable us to fulfill our mission.
Makes great sense to me. This past year I have had the opportunity to meet with many who have come to Christ or on the verge of doing so, but who told of negative experiences with their “Southern Baptist” upbringing, and whichcaused them to abandon their relationship with God. Apparently these experiences are more common than I imagined. I’ve encouraged them to give First Baptist Mansfield a chance to show them their old concerns are not manifest in our church, but thus far I don’t that anyone has. They want to return worship services but are holding on to old prejudices. It seems a shame to have the name of our church be, in anyway, a barrier to their rebuilding their relationship with Jesus.