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It started as a working title because anything we discussed just didn’t do it for us. Nothing clicked. Nothing made us shout “YES!!” and pump our fists above our heads. We needed something that let people know immediately that this congregation was outside the box. That you had to be open to anything when you came in. A name that put you in the right frame of mind as soon as you heard it.
“We just have to let people know this is NOT yo mama’s church!” Snap, snap, snap.
Silence. Looks back and forth. Smiles. YESSSS!! Fist pumping!
“Are you serious? You’ll never get it past the Conference. Are you even going to tell them? I double dog dare you!”
Conference said, “Well, ask your people. If they’re comfortable with it, it’s okay.” Wow.
Ten days later we had a visitor in church, in Phoenix for a few days from Ohio. People around her told her about the new congregation and its name. She wanted me to know she liked it, and to wish me luck. NYMC was going to Ohio. It now had a life of its own.
Evidently people are comfortable with it.
We want to contact the de-churched and unchurched. They will not be looking for a church. But something called NotYoMamasChurch will go out and tap them on the shoulder.
Ask the next ten people you see what their favorite commercial is. There is a 99 percent chance they will relate a humorous one. Humor attracts people. Humor gets repeated, forwarded, passed around, pinned to the bulletin board. No one ever talks about the public service announcement by C. Everett Koop.
People who hear the name almost always at least smile. Frequently they chuckle. Often they laugh out loud. Whichever occurs, they are in exactly the right frame of mind to join us.
Will it be taken seriously? One need only spend a bit of time with us, or on our web page to know how committed we are to healing, community and spirituality.
Snap.