Church naming conventions

Factual Questions
1

The fundamental question here is: how are churches named?

I’m sure it’s different for each Christian faith (and other faiths of course, but I’m most experienced with the Christian churches). There do seem to be some patterns though. An awful lot of United Methodist churches seem to just be called Trinity United Methodist or some slight variation thereof, with no “local color”. And I’ve been to several Roman Catholic churches named in some variation of Our Lady of the [prominent local feature]. But clearly that’s not a representative sample of… anything really.

So what kind of other general conventions are out there? And who decides this kind of thing when they build a new church?

2

Our congregation (Episcopal), when it was established, chose to be named after a saint – one of the disciples – who shared a name with:

  • the Bishop of our diocese at the time and
  • the patron saint of the parish our new preist had come from

I think - but I could be wrong - that at least in the Episcopal church, the local parish gets to choose the name.

3

Here’s a quote I found at http://www.goodshepherdonline.com/newparish/historyofchurch.htm (Catholic church):

So it would appear that in some, but not the majority, of Catholic churches, the parishoners have input into the new name.

4

From what I know of the Roman Catholics, the church has to have permission to use the name, so there won’t be too much confusion.

The Roman Catholics pool from three basic sources – names of saints, names, events or titles of Mary the mother of Jesus, and titles or events associated with Jesus. That’s why you don’t see “The First Catholic Church of Chicago.”

Protestant denominations all have their own rules. The Lutheran churches I’m familiar with only use “Saint” if it’s attached to one of the original 12 Apostles (although I believe the Lutherans recognize saints who were canonized before the Reformation), and don’t put anywhere near the emphasis on Matry that Catholics do. U.S. Episcopalioans seem to follow the Roman Catholic model, minus the references to Mary. Churches which are more loosely affiliated, such as Baptists, often incorporate their local place name. Some, like the Church of Christ Scientist and the Latter Day Saints, don’t actually “name” their worship places, but simply refer to them as the First Church of Christ, Scientist-Chicago.

5

Some Roman Catholic churches are named accidentally, just as some towns are. I went to one that was Three Crossroads Church.

6

I’m sure the naming process depends a lot on the particular church politics. One church I attended was basically the pastor’s own church–he founded it, ran it, and I’m sure he named it. At another, we picked the name by congregational vote.

Other saints may be unusual, but you do see them. I once belonged to a (cringe) Saint Nicholas Lutheran (ELCA). (I believe this was because they first met, or were founded on Saint Nicholas day.) Other ELCA Lutheran churches have been named after saints Dysmas, Sebald, Elias, Enoch, Elizabeth, and others.

According to the ELCA Department for Research and Evaluation, the ten most common names for ELCA churches are (in descending order): Trinity, St. John or St. John’s, St. Paul or St. Paul’s, Zion, First, Grace, Faith, Immanuel, and Good Shepherd.

Most popular names since 1992 (in no order) are Peace, Faith, Hope, Grace, Joy, Christ the King, New Hope, Rejoice, Lord of Life, and Spirit of Joy.

http://www.thelutheran.org/0208/page32.html

(This is kind of limited in scope, isn’t it…)

7

Almost all Roman Catholic churches are named after a saint, but there are exceptions (mostly of the forms which kunilou mentioned). For instance, I’ve been to churches called “Sacred Heart” (the Heart of Jesus), Sagrada Familia (Spanish for “Holy Family”, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph), and “Community of the Servant of Man”, and here in town, the two Catholic churches are “Holy Rosary” (but with Mary as patron saint: The rosary is generally associated with Mary) and “Ressurection”.

Really, all the churches named “Our Lady Of…*” are just special cases of “church named after a saint”. In general, about half the saints recognized by Catholics are Mary, so to speak. There are a lot of things that need patrons, and only so many saints to go around, so The Mom ends up taking up the slack.

*Incidentally, “Our Lady Of…” doesn’t usually refer to a local feature. Usually, when that construction is used with a place name, it means that there was an apparition of Mary at that place. So, for instance, Mary appeared at Guadalupe, so one of Mary’s titles is “Our Lady of Guadalupe”. And there are plenty of churches called “Our Lady of Guadalupe”, even thousands of miles from Mexico.

8

Actually, the examples I was thinking of were “Our Lady of the Mountain” and “Our Lady of the Valley”. If wonder if they refer to specific biblical places? (not being sarcastic)

9

All the churches I know in the UK are named after either a specific saint or two (the Virgin Mary gets a look-in as St. Mary), “All Saints”, or Christ. The saints may be obscure or of local significance. Churches I know in Oxford include “St Giles”, “St Frideswide”, “St Barnabas and St Paul”, and of course “Christ Church”, the cathedral.

The most modern church I’ve worshipped at was founded in 1829, so the naming process isn’t something I’m personally familiar with …

10

Should add: stricter Protestant sects than the Church of England do not name churches after saints … geographical location seems to be the key there (for example, the strict Baptists near me meet in a chapel in Albert Street, the name of which is the Albert Street Chapel.)

11

Somewhere along the Northeast Corridor (I-95, or maybe the Jersey Turnpike?), there’s a church called Our Lady of the Highway, so at least in some cases, the Bible probably doesn’t have a lot to do with the naming choice!

(BTW, whenever I see that sign, my mind leaps to “street walker.” Probably not the image they had in mind.)

12

That’s along I-95 in Maryland, around mile marker 107 (shortly before the Delaware border) and facing the northbound lanes.

13

SmackFu, those could indeed be in reference to local features, simply by adopting Marian “advocation” without adopting a specific Mariological form (e.g. Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

In Catholicism all proper parish churches have an “advocation” – a patron [Saint/divine attribute/holy event or place/theological concept()]. This is * usually, but not absolutely always, the name they’re known by.

(* Thus, Churches of the Ascension, of the Assumption, of the Transfiguration, of the Holy Faith, of the Holy Wisdom, etc.)

14

But isn’t the Church in Binsey just Binsey Church?

15

Oh, and Bartlemas Church too. St Batholemew yes, but Bartlemas is the name of the old leper colony outside the city walls

16

Well, my former church - The Church of Our Saviour in Atlanta, GA - was named by Bishop Mikell of Atlanta back when it was founded in… 1926, I think.

Bishop Mikell chose the English spelling (with the ‘u’) because Our Saviour is an Anglo-Catholic parish of the Episcopal Chuch. That is, it’s very “high church” - very “old school Catholic” in worship and belief (except where said belief is counter to established Anglican doctrine). He apparently named it that way so Episcopalians would know what kind of church it was.

FWIW, I’m a “former member” because I moved, not 'cos I went apostate or anything! :wink:

17

Our Lady of the Snows – Waitsfield, Vermont (Three ski areas in the two neighboring towns, and seven more within an hour’s drive)

18

The Orthodox Church usually chooses a Saint’s name, with St. Nicholas being the most popular among the Greeks. Then there are the names around the Virgin Mary: “Joy of all Who Sorrow” and “Protection of the Theotokos”. I know of no Orthodox parishes that use her name directly. They always use a title like one of the two above. “Holy Trinity” is also a fairly common parish name. Some Saints are always mentioned in pairs: There are no parishes of “St. Constantine” (the emperor). It is always “Saints Constantine and Helen” (Helen being his mother–who told him to straighten out and fly right.)

19

I’ve been waiting for a chance to use this in a thread. In east central PA, in the middle of German speaking Pennsylvania Dutch (of course, that generation is dying out) there is a Mennonite church near a dam. That’s right, it is the Big Dam Church.

20

Or, we can get cutesy.

In the town of Tabernacle, NJ, the RC Church is named…

Holy Eucharist.

That’s right, Holy Eucharist in Tabernacle.

Peace.

I firmly believe all church names should be alliterative with the town they’re in.