SBC brand name

Name change? Why? Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a brand like Coca-Cola. It indicates a known commodity. Changing the name of the SBC because it betrays a regional origin makes about as much sense as changing the name of Coke because the drink originally contained cocaine!

Surveys have shown that “Southern” is not usually a negative factor in communities anywhere in the U.S. But if “Southern” turns people off, I suspect “Baptist” would probably turn a bunch of them off, too. In fact, many of those offended by “Baptist” will probably also be offended by “church.” But to take all those markers off your congregation or denomination to get people into your churches who otherwise would not come is to mimic the kind of deception cults use. “Let’s get them in before we reveal who we really are … in our case, a church, a Baptist church, in fact, a Southern Baptist church!”

Cecil Taylor
Satsuma, Ala.