pretty good lutherans

© Pretty Good Lutherans

CHICAGO — A north side church founded in the 19th century by Swedish immigrants runs a disclaimer on its Web site that says its name isn’t something out of Dickens.

“It has nothing to do with Scrooge,” proclaims the site of Ebenezer Lutheran Church. “Ebenezer” means “stone of help”  and refers to “God’s miraculous intervention” in an ancient battle described in the Hebrew Bible (1 Sam. 7:12-14).

“Ebenezer is a powerful name once you understand what it means,” said the Rev. Gordon Straw, interim pastor of the church. “But many people don’t know, even people who regularly come to church.”

Ebenezer Scrooge, on the the hand, is the poster-boy of bad bosses made famous by writer Charles Dickens. He’s not a poster boy that churches want associated with them.

At least 17 churches bear the name “Ebenezer” in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Many more Baptist churches bear the name.

“There’s only one Ebenezer and that’s Scrooge,” said Diana Placek, a 26-year-old Augustana College graduate from Illinois who lives in the Chicago area.

“He’s a meany pants boss, who’s selfish and unkind and berates his workers,” she said. “He’s the boss nobody wants because he mistreats everybody.”

With “A Christmas Carol” in movie houses and theater stages this time of year, Ebenezer Scrooge’s name recognition is particularly high.

Workers at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in San Francisco took down its church sign a bit ago when sprucing up the property. The sign has stayed down, though the name is still used in the church bulletin.

“We haven’t been quick to eliminate the name, but we will probably legally change it at some point,” said Pastor Stacy Boorn. The congregation, which she said emphasizes the “divine feminine,” is popularly known as Her Church.

Pastor Duane Semmler said Scrooge’s reach doesn’t have an impact in rural Kandiyohi, Minn., where he’s the pastor of Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

“Part of the reason is location,” he said. “We’re a small, rural town. The church and the people have an established identity. People know us and know we’re nothing like Scrooge.”

He said the name of the other church he leads in the Kandiyohi area is more obscure: Tripolis Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Perhaps the most unfortunate ELCA church name is in Peerless, Mont. Singing “What a friend we have in Jesus” just doesn’t pack at punch at Peerless Lutheran Church, people joke.

Some church marketers say the names given to churches in the 19th century are obstacles to reaching post-Christian Americans.

“A good name cannot guarantee excellent ministry, but a poor name will take away ministry opportunities,” said Cynthia Ware, executive director, Center for Church Communication in Los Angeles.

“A lot of the old names don’t serve us in the way they used to,” she said. “Congregations need to ask, ‘How can we be who we are and not have our name become an impedient?’”

Ware, who works with a lot of non-denominational churches, offers “Vineyard,” “New Hope” and “Grapevine” as names with great potential for modern-day churches.

But for many liturgically-minded Christians, those names sound more like cemeteries that houses of worship.

Madelon Rasz, who lives a few doors down from the Chicago area’s Ebenezer Lutheran, said the church’s name isn’t an obstacle for her. She said the church enjoys a “good” reputation in the neighborhood because it cares about everybody, particularly “people on the margins.”

“If I were ever inclined to go to church, I wouldn’t hesitate to go there,” she said. “I vote there. They’re very warm and welcoming — not at all like Scrooge.”

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THE EBENEZERS

Ebenezer Lutheran Chuch, Audubon, Iowa

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Brenham (Berlin), Texas

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Catawba, N.C.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Columbia, S.C.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Chicago

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, China Grove, N.C.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Kandiyohi, Minn.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Lake Stevens, Wash.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Marion, Va.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Maxwell, Texas

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, McCabe, Mont.

Eben Ezer Lutheran Church, Oaks, Okla.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Oklee, Minn.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Pierson, Fla.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Rio, W. Va.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, San Francisco, Calif.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Willimantic, Conn.

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© Pretty Good Lutherans / By Susan Hogan

Framed photo of ornament by Scott Wilcoxson. Creative Commons license.

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Tags: Boorn, church, Dickens, Ebenezer, name, Peerless Her, Scrooge, Semmler, Straw, Ware

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 9:23 am and is filed under Congregations, Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.