It looks like all your church friends are going to need new car decals.
Lifechurch.TV, the hip, cool, rockin' church for all the basic folk who enjoy shopping malls, is changing its name. Well, kind of. Basically, they're just moving around a period and dropping a couple of letters.
Via NewsOK.com:
The megachurch with multiple satellite sites known as LifeChurch.tv has changed its name to Life.Church, church leaders said today.
The church, based in Edmond, made the announcement in a news release that says the change is in anticipation of the ministry's 20th anniversary in 2016.
The church will now be known as Life.Church, which also is the ministry's new web address -- www.life.church.
"Over the past two decades, the church has had three other names including Life Covenant Church, Life Church, and LifeChurch.tv. The change to Life.Church brings both a new name and a new website address to the church," the church's news release stated.
“We believe the transition to Life.Church creates the opportunity to share and talk about the church in a natural way. Plus, it’s a more effective way for people to find and identify us as a church, too,” Bobby Gruenewald, Life.Church pastor-innovation leader said in the church's statement.
That's a better name, but I'm kind of confused. First of all, do you pronounce it "Life-Dot-Church" or just "Life-Church?" Why not just do away with the period all together? We get it. You're an online church with a website. So fancy.
Also, do they really expect people to pick up on the name change? Half the people I know still say they go grocery shopping at Albertson's. Granted, half the people I know are alcoholics and potheads, but couldn't you say the same for half the congregation at Life.Church?
Anyway, I've been part of a few re-brands during my good old corporate marketing days. It's expensive. You have to make new signs, letterhead, brochures, etc. How much is this going to cost the church, and could that money be better spent on other things like supporting charities and the less fortunate?
I'll let NewsOK.com ask those tough questions:
The .church domain is one of hundreds of top-level domains newly approved by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, including brand-specific domains as well as generic domains like .gifts, .movie amd .guru, the church's news release said.
“When we chose LifeChurch.tv about 10 years ago, there were limited options for churches claiming a space online. Along with thousands of other churches, we are excited to take advantage of the new .church domain as way to share our mission with the world. We think it's the perfect time to embrace a new name as we enter into our 20th year of ministry in 2016,” Gruenewald said.
Life.Church was started by Craig Groeschel, the founding senior pastor, in 1996 in in a two-car garage. The church has 24 locations in Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, New York, Kansas, and New Mexico. According to the news release, the multi-site church draws more than 70,000 people to its 24 churches each weekend. The church also has an online presence through Life.Church Online (live.life.church).
The church is internationally known for its free YouVersion Bible App and Bible App for Kids.
Oh, so they didn't delve into the cost of the name change or anything like that. The Oklahoman basically just copied and pasted a press release sent out by Life.Church and called it news. I'm totally fine with that. If you're going to print press releases for the energy and entertainment industry, you should do it for everyone else, too.
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