Should the CCCC Change its Denominational Name?
What is in a name? After all, a name is just an arbitrary assortment of letters with no intrinsic meaning and value tethered to them. They seem to be as insubstantial as the wind. Most people clearly recognize the fallacy. Just because a word is appointed by convention does not mean it is denuded of meaning. Anybody catechized enough to know the 3rd Commandment knows otherwise. A person’s name is important, such that God communicates to us that to take His name in vain, lightly or to sinful purposes, is an egregious evil. Clearly the Lord’s name has a premium, but so too do the names of humans and created realities.
A name is that which reveals something. They are signs that communicate something signified. The three lettered word “man” communicates the idea of a rational animal. The word church communicates the notion of a religious assembly or society. So too a denominational name communicates something. As smoke reveals a fire, so too a denominational names reveals the nature of a denomination. It renders a distinct, clear, and adequate object of thought to the prospective inquirer, and communicates what that denomination is and the purpose to which it serves. It takes little reflection to see that the choice of a denominational name is no insignificant task.
Names are not always static, however. They sometimes are changed so as to reflect a changed reality. Simon becomes Peter and Abram becomes Abraham. They often need to be changed as words acquire new senses and lose antiquated ones. What they communicate in one generation, may be lost to the readers of a future generation. The Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 139 condemns the “allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them” under the 7th Commandment. Whereas we may think they are condemning the keeping of beefy broth, in truth they condemned the keeping of brothels thereby. So too a denominational name can also be changed.
Clearly Protestant churches and denominations have, to varying degrees, changed their names for hundreds of years. What distinguishes the older pattern is that name changes were largely tied to denominational mergers and separations, or the dropping of ethnic monikers. The United Church of Christ denominational name came into being by virtue of the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches with the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The Congregational Christian Churches name was birthed by the union of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States with the Christian Connection. This can be seen across the denominational landscape, whether Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist or Lutheran.[1]
The newer pattern has largely taken its rise from the 1970’s, accelerating in the 2000’s and beyond. Some churches have dropped denominational markers on account of the perceived negative reception of said denomination. The Baptist General Conference renamed itself Converge Worldwide and then Converge in 2008 and 2015. The Evangelical Mennonite Church has become the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches. Others have found umbrage with the term fundamental. An instance is the former Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International, which has changed its name to Foundations Baptist Fellowship International.[2]
Closer to home, several associations and denominations have terminated their relationship with the term “conservative.” The Conservative Mennonite Conference has transformed into the Rosedale Network of Churches while the Conservative Baptist Association of America is now denominated the Venture Church Network. Because of the perceived political or socio-economic baggage of the term, these churches have judged it to be unnecessary luggage to be jettisoned.
The same question has come before the CCCC (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference). Ought they to follow in the footsteps of these aforementioned denominations, or steer their own course by retaining their denominational name?
The CCCC originated from a group of Congregationalists concerned with the overall liberal theological drift present in the CCC of the mid-20th century. With the aid of Hilmer Sandine, the Conservative Congregational Christian Fellowship was founded in Chicago in February of 1945 to serve as a fellowship group within the larger denomination. With the continued liberal theology of the overall denomination as well as the prospective merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, this fellowship blossomed into and gave birth to the present CCCC in October of 1948.[3]
Everyone can presumably agree that denominational names are not set in stone, nor are they as immutable as the heavens. They clearly are not the 11th Commandment, and Christian wisdom may sometimes determine that a denominational name change is in order. Ideally, everyone is committed to walk “in the old paths” of our faithful forefathers in their commitment to historic Congregationalism and Christian orthodoxy. The crux, and status of the question, is whether the CCCC has legitimate reason for the constitutional amendment to change its present denominational name to “Centerpoint Biblical Congregational Conference.” Is it worthy to reject the name that has donned this association of churches for nearly 80 years? Is it laudable to replace the name that has clearly revealed the nature of our association? In the next article, we’ll address the reasoning behind the proposed change, and determine the soundness of those claims.
[1] An example of the dropping of ethnic monikers is seen in the EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America). Its constituting bodies were the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association. The dropping of ethnic titles in denominational names occurred largely during the time of assimilation and acculturation to the Anglo-American cultural identity present in the United States from 1870-1950.
[2] For a decent taxonymy of names churches and denominations now especially employ, see https://churchanswers.com/blog/contemporary-trends-church-names/comment-page-6/
[3] Wesley D. Blood, “Birth of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference,” The FORESEE, February 2023, https://foresee.ccccusa.com/2023/02/birth-of-the-conservative-congregational-christian-conference/. See Modern Day Pilgrims: The History of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (Lake Elmo, MN: Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, 2023).
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