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I'm working through rethinking/revamping a lot of what we do in our student ministry at FBCCS this year.  One change we want to make is simple, but could have a big impact.

In the past we've called our entry-point midweek youth event... "Youth Group".  I know, EPIC, right?

It's been fine - we haven't really pursued a name for our midweek in the past, but we want to give our time with students a name other than "youth group".  First of all, we want to call our midweek something that reflects the reason we are there - to create an exciting, safe environment for students to encounter Jesus, ask questions, feel loved and accepted, and learn how to take the next steps on their faith journey.  We also wanted a name for our midweek that sounded more invite-friendly for our core students.  Inviting a friend to "church youth group" is fine, but we feel like we can do better.

So we're working through a list of potential names - there are some great YG names out there, and some TERRIBLE ones!  Here's a list we're distributing to students and leaders, with a little tag line next to each name to help them get a picture of where the name is going.  Each person that receives the sheet circles their 5 favorite names, then will put together a short list of candidates and let students vote on a winner in the coming weeks.

I can't wait to let you all know what we decide and share the new name of our midweek service with you!

Here's the list of names:
(CLUB) 180: Turn your life around!
ESCAPE: No more normal.
PULSE: Signs of Life.
ENCOUNTER: Meeting God.
24/7: Following Jesus every second!
SOLID GROUND: Standing Firm!
UNDERGROUND: Join the movement!
(YOUTH) CONNECT: Plug in!
XTREME: Living a life that matters!
ALIVE: Living life to the fullest!
AXIS: Jesus at the center!
BLAST: Blowin’ it up for Jesus! BIG HOUSE: Room for everyone!
COLLIDE/COLLISION: Where faith and life meet.
CROSSROADS: Meeting in the middle.
DIVE: Jump in!
YOUTH CHURCH: Speaking to you where you’re at.
DEEPER: Getting below the surface.
DV8 (Deviate):No more normal! (Romans 12:2)
ELEVATE: Taking it to the next level!
EMERGE: A generation rising up.
OASIS: A safe place.
FUEL: Feed the fire.
GROUND ZERO: This is where it happens.
HIGHER GROUND: Looking up and up…
IMPACT: Making a difference in students’ lives.
INVERT: Turning life upside down.
JOLT: Jesus offers life today.
MOMENTUM: Gaining and sustaining!
MOSAIC: Different pieces, one masterpiece.
ONE WAY: Pointing the way… John 14:6
OXYGEN: Coming up for air!
PURSUIT: Following after Christ!
RADIATE: Shining in the darkness.
REFUGE: A safe place.
S.O.S. – Sending out a message…
VERITAS – The truth, nothing but the truth.

Which one is YOUR favorite?- Tim B.
2/9/2011 01:50:41 am

Great list. I am "borrowing" it to give to our students. I've been working with them to name our midweek study, but they've not been coming up with anything. Sort of deer in headlights look. So, thanks for the great list!
Also, I used to pass by your church all the time when I ministered in KY. Glad to connect with you.

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2/9/2011 03:18:14 am

Tim - Good list man. I am just on the tail end of finishing my naming/branding process for our student ministry, and I know it can be frustrating. One thing I came to realize was that I was trying to come up with "cool" name that meant something before I knew what I wanted it to mean. What Im saying is that I decided I need to work the other way around. I needed to decide what we were gonna be about before I could create a name that carried that message. For us, our two things are Identity - identity in Christ and the process of finding your identity in general, being that middle school and high school are very formative years (as we all know) and Community - are we creating space and being a place for students to experience community and a place where they can create community. in short: Identity in Christ, Identity in Community. I and C. I 'n' C which turned into I N C = INC. I like the list you've come up with but to be honest, they are all such youth ministry buzz words, which isn't bad, but for me, I wanted something that didn't resonate on that level. For us, INC has come to be a one-word name for us to throw around, refer to our mid-week event as, and it is just a word ya know, something that kids can use and invite their non-christian friends with out having to explain in..."hey wanna come to INC tonight?"

Don't know if this is useful or not, I just saw your posting about tying to figure out name stuff so I thought I could share with you my process. Im sure you guys will come up with something great.

If I had to vote I'd say Pulse or Jolt

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nick
2/9/2011 03:24:08 am

oh i forgot, Im sure you've seen this list, but if you haven't...here are 12,000 youth group names, mostly bad ones, but its fun to look at either way...

http://www.youthpastor.com/names/

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Tim
2/10/2011 01:43:49 am

Bill - no worries man, good luck!

Nick - Good stuff, I TOTALLY hear everything you're saying. In fact, as we are narrowing down this list and getting closer to our "brand", I'm removing ones that just don't make sense with our purposes/functions. It's too early to say yet, but there are a couple that resonated with our students that also really tie in to my heart as a YP, but I'll have to wait to let that cat out of the bag! (Soon, though!)

Thanks for your comments though guys, I really appreciate it!

Oh, and btw, I love INC. Awesome! :)

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Tim Adams
2/10/2011 07:09:05 am

I love your ideas. we struggled with the same thing at first and came up with Outer Limits - live like an alien, using 1 Peter 2:11 as our reference verse. We have a coollogo too. But we have been directing our messages around this theme for a while now and almost everything applies.

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5/18/2011 08:17:04 am

Hey tim,

thought i'd check back in and see how the naming process went. What did you decide on?

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6/14/2011 04:44:40 am

Hey Nick! We went with IMPACT. Last week was our first "relaunced/revamped" service (hence the crazy lack of updates to the site!). It was AWESOME! I'll be posting pics and details soon!

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