# Loooooooong church names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233 "2005-06-14T16:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/1 "2005-06-14T16:25:14Z")
A church in Ashtabula, Ohio recently [made the news](http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1118741412199580.xml&coll=2) (zip, age and gender required to view article) for the death of a child in the congregation, and allegations of brainwashing and other unsavory practices. The name of the church? _Apostolic Faith Church Body of Jesus Christ of the Newborn Assembly_. Its congregants and leaders are primarily African-American. When I heard that long name, I was reminded of the names of other small African-American churches, an unusually large percentage of which seem quite long or unusual-sounding to my white middle-class ears. Looking throgh the [Brooklyn Storefront Houses of Worship](http://public.fotki.com/rudayday/brooklyn_storefront/) Web site reveals the following names: _The Spiritual Israel Church and its Army Alpha and Omega Brooklyn House of Prayer Macedonia First Born Church of the Living God Jesus the Son of the Living God Spiritual Baptist Church Church of Deliverance Tabernacle of Prayer More Than Conquerors Outreach Ministry Church Divine Guide Tabernacle of Faith Church Holy City Faith and Deliverance Ministries Center of Love Touch Not My Annointed Saint Andrews Temple Church of the Living God_ Head out the suburbs, and exception a few Catholic parishes (“Our Most Holy Previous Lady of the Sacred Heart”, etc), most places of worship will have much shorter names - St. James Presbyterian Church, Trinity Methodist Church, Cecilville Unitarian-Universalist Church, Congregation Beth El, and so on. Non-denomination mega-churches often have unconventional names, but there’s usually nothing quite as long as what’s encountered in the inner city. I’m wondering about the roots of long church names in the African-American community; where and why did it begin, and if there’s a belief that “longer is better” when it comes to such names. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/2 "2005-06-14T16:57:36Z")
At the annual Punkin Chunkin World Championships, we routinely see the “New Bethel Church Marching Band Tabernacle Choir Motorcycle Club Pumpkin Throwing Team” enter a pumpkin tossing device. I have no idea how they compare to other teams, or whether their longer name ensures them a place in the Kingdom. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/3 "2005-06-14T22:02:56Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Touch Not My Annointed Heh heh heh heh heh heh ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/4 "2005-06-15T00:43:43Z")
> [@Little Bird](#): > > Heh heh heh heh heh heh [It’s real](http://images2.fotki.com/v21/file7yO6/4ea11/5/53843/223384/annointedFINAL.jpg), complete with the spelling error. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/5 "2005-06-15T01:19:51Z")
not particularly long, but I once did work for the **F** irst **U** nitarian **C** hurch of **K** ensington (CA). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/6 "2005-06-15T02:23:51Z")
The official name of [National Cathedral](http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/) in Washington, DC, is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. (It’s _not_ predominantly black, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/7 "2005-06-15T02:40:16Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > At the annual Punkin Chunkin World Championships, we routinely see the “New Bethel Church Marching Band Tabernacle Choir Motorcycle Club Pumpkin Throwing Team” enter a pumpkin tossing device. I have no idea how they compare to other teams, or whether their longer name ensures them a place in the Kingdom. Not church related, but I once saw a band called The Summer Dog Bluegrass Experience, Western Swing Ensemble and Mariachi Band. Oddly, I can’t remember Where I saw them- maybe Arizona? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/8 "2005-06-15T03:36:02Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > The official name of [National Cathedral](http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/) in Washington, DC, is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. (It’s _not_ predominantly black, BTW.) But being a High Church Episcopalian congregation it hitches a ride with the Catholic parishes on the exemption for Patron Saints. However, it indeed is usually revivalist churches that recur to laying on multiply-descriptive adjectives and references to biblical sites and places and theological concepts, like “Holiness Renewal Tabernacle of the Chosen Remnant, Inc.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/9 "2005-06-15T11:58:17Z")
I don’t think its so much a black thing as a non-standard denominational thing. Here in my part of the Bible belt we have typically-named mainstream churches and also long-winded weirdball-named churches, mostly full of very white, largely red-neck folks. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/10 "2005-06-15T14:30:00Z")
Oddly enough, the San Jose Mercury News recently ran [this article (google cache)](http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:c6TPEtz4pQcJ:www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/religion/11814590.htm+%22san+jose%22+church+names&hl=en&client=firefox-a) about SF Bay Area churches for better marketing. Unlike the churches in the OP, these seem to be choosing names that obfuscate their theology. _Evangelical Free Church of Fremont_ is now _Bridges_ Fremont’s 70-year-old _First Assembly of God_ is now _Harbor Light_. Sound like a bunch of Marin County crystal gazing new age astrological herbal freaks. Then we have _The HighWay_, aka _The First Church of CalTrans_, and the _New Venture Church_, presumably aimed at the pre-IPO set. That said, there is a strong thread in African American culture that values ornate language with an oratorical flair and the spoken word. Which also bring us preachers like Martin Luther King, rap music, and names like Cheniqua. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/11 "2005-06-15T15:19:39Z")
There is a little store front church near my folk’s church (in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) named “The True Holiness Divine Revelation Church of the Apostolic Succession”. The sign covers practically the whole front of the place. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooooooong-church-names/308233/12 "2005-06-18T03:05:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > There is a little store front church near my folk’s church (in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) named “The True Holiness Divine Revelation Church of the Apostolic Succession”. The sign covers practically the whole front of the place. > > Regards, > Shodan 😃 Kudos for throwing in the Apostolic Succession. Someone among the founders must have at some point hung out with some Catholic/Orthodox/Anglican buddies and liked how it sounded… 🆒