What's in a Name, Take Two.

Once upon a time we wrote this entry (well, Stephanie wrote it, but with a common understanding) about why we chose the name "The Thinking Church."

At the time, we all thought that the name really spoke about who we were, a group of church members who want to ask questions and seek deeper answers.  As time moved on, I received critiques from several people-- church members and non-church members-- saying that we sound like we think we're better than everyone else by having that name.  At first I thought well that's not true at all; we don't think that and I shrugged the critiques off.  After a while, especially when I saw the wide variety of people who were bringing the same feedback to me, I began to realize that with this title we were projecting an image of ourselves that wasn't representative of who we are, or at least who we're striving to be. 

We are A Thinking Church, but we're not THE Thinking Church.  I know a lot of thinking churches.  I know Thinking Churches that are fundamental and Thinking Churches that are progressive and everything in between.  We're a lot of other things too.  We're a questioning church.  We're a searching church. We're a worshiping church.  We're a visioning church.  We're a welcoming church.  We're a laughing church.  We're a crying church.  We're a creating church.  We're a challenging church.  And oh dear...when I really stop and think about it...isn't just about every church all of those things?  So how can we possibly say that we have the monopoly on any of them?  

So, here's what else we are: we're a church of Grace, and in that we should be a church willing to admit that sometimes we make mistakes.  So I'm going to admit it-- calling ourselves "The Thinking Church" is a mistake.  And I hope you'll all be full of Grace and let us change the name to something we are and nobody else is:  First Congo of Ripon-- short, of course, for The First Congregational Church of Ripon.  We, among other churches, are a church who is "using heads, lifting hearts."  We're still thinking people, but we're not THE ONLY thinking people, and I hope you'll see that in the words written in this little corner of the internet world.  

Peace and Grace to all of you, from A Thinker, but not The Thinker, 

-- Pastor Joanna 

P.S.  We are not changing the URL (Riponthinkingchurch.blogspot.com) at this point because that address has been published in several places and we don't want to lose people who might still type it in as they originally knew it.  That change may happen in the future, and when/if it does we will make sure to make an announcement.

The Thinking Church: What’s in a Name?

I can still remember a commercial for a TV channel that aired during my childhood, well over 15 years ago.  Someone stands in the center of the screen and says, “Great minds think alike!”  The Genie from Aladdin sticks his head sideways in the shot and interjects, “Great minds think for themselves!”  

If you haven’t felt the love already, welcome to The Thinking Church!  As with any project, many discussions prior to the launch focused on what to call our blog.  Your blog.  How do we capture, in one short phrase, our community’s identity and our history and our intentions and our future and our aspirations?  It was a bit mind-boggling.  

The Thinking Church.

This name came out of our best efforts to articulate who we are and who we want to be.  It wasn’t easy.  Our congregation is home to Tea Partiers and former Woodstock-ers.  We have representatives from the Greatest Generation and the Millennials.  Some have their fingertips constantly tapping a smart phone, and others aren’t connected to the internet.  Some grew up in church with a vibrant, religious past, and others identify themselves as agnostics, searching for some sort of unknown meaning to life.    

We embrace our diversity, but it’s exactly what makes it hard to abbreviate our identity into one phrase.  Like Genie’s recommendation during my formidable years, we feel that what does unite us is our desire to think critically about our faith.  What that looks like, exactly, is slightly different for everyone here.  That means that our congregation consists of different opinions and preferences.  We see respectful debate and internal struggle as part of the continuous process of extracting truth and developing a greater understanding of God.  We don’t see the world comprised of black and white issues, but vibrant hues of cyan, magenta, and everything in between.  Our thinking will never end and we will never be finished understanding how scripture translates meaning into our everyday life.  

We are The Thinking Church, using our heads to lift the hearts of those in our community, whether inside or beyond our church doors.  No matter who you are or what you believe, we are glad you're here.  Welcome!  

- SP