A New Chapter
FaithLife Lutheran Church
For 140 years, our church has been meeting people in their faithlife journey where they are. As we look to the future, we are excited to begin the transition to change our name to FaithLife.
Questions & Answers
I heard you DBAed. What does that even mean?
As of February 29, 2024 we “DBAed” as FaithLife Lutheran Church. To DBA “do business as” is a common way for a business to hold its legal name in the state of Iowa while conducting business under another one. In our case, a DBA allows us to avoid the excessive legal changes and costs associated with an official name change while operating with a new one.
This means that according to the state of Iowa we are still officially “St. Mark’s Lutheran Church of Cedar Rapids,” but we also do business as “FaithLife Church.” We can use the name of FaithLife Lutheran Church, FaithLife Church, or simply FaithLife going forward to conduct business, just like we often call ourselves St. Mark’s.
So are we FaithLife or FaithLife Lutheran?
BOTH! We can use the name of FaithLife Lutheran Church, FaithLife Church, or simply FaithLife going forward to conduct business, just like we often call ourselves simply St. Mark’s.
Why FaithLife?
Our new name encompasses our mission of connecting faith and life! Did you know that “St.Mark’s” was chosen in 1945 because there were no other churches by that name? The main reason we want to move away from it today is that people generally associate it with a Catholic name. Secondarily, there is a Methodist church in our area with the same name. Additionally, the reason for dropping Lutheran from our name is because of the:
1. General lack of denominational loyalty these days.
2. Lowering any barriers to people coming to our church who otherwise would not because we are Lutheran.
3. Data shows that having your denomination in your name and branding deters certain segments of our society from trying us out.
Why didn’t we take a vote on this as a congregation?
Our church is organized so that we don’t vote on everything; actually, we vote on very little. That’s primarily because we vote for a church council that oversees the lead pastor, ensuring he/she is accomplishing the goals set by the council. In this instance, we asked for feedback in a ranked voting poll in late January, and the information from that was enough to inform the church council of their decision.
Why should we change our name if things are going so well right now?
Things are going well! God is on the move at our church. We want those outside the Lutheran tradition to know about what’s going on here too, the name change removes a barrier to that. We trust that God has even greater things in store (like multisite and online ministry, new mission work in and for our city, and more family ministry opportunities) and we think “FaithLife Lutheran Church” is an exclamation point on the new things God is doing in and through us.
What will the new logo look like? What if I don’t like the new name and logo?
By the end of June 2024, we will have final details on the branding and logo. Something we have learned throughout this process is that it is much easier to critique than create. Two people can hear the same name or see the same logo and respond differently based on past experience or personal preference. Over time, a name and logo become the norm. We encourage you to walk with us in this new name as we grow into it as a church family.