No Logo

We had a business meeting at Richview yesterday, and we had a controversial item on the agenda: a new logo for the church. The meeting was, I think, a defining moment for our church.

On one hand, a logo is no big deal. I can think of tons of topics that are more important. But we all know that the weightiest topics are not always the most volatile ones.

How we chose to handle this decision won’t make sense to all of you, but it reflects our congregational roots, and our desire to let the congregation own this decision, even though it would have been a lot more efficient to make a decision without consultation. Doing this, however, would have seriously backfired. It would have been the wrong thing to do in our context.

We presented the possible logos, and tried to make it clear that how we handled this decision was more important than the result. We had some honest but intensely respectful discussion, followed by a vote. 67% chose the “none of the above” option, otherwise known as “back to the drawing board.”

Here’s why I’m grateful:

• Our leaders were mature enough to not foist their choice on a congregation
• The congregation was mature enough to frankly and yet lovingly discuss the issue
• We discussed things more like a family than a corporation or a shareholders meeting

As a result, I walked away from the meeting a very happy man. It may seem like a small thing, but it isn’t. How we handle the small things says a lot. What a great group of people – not to mention a gospel that makes this type of relational dynamic possible. I preached on Ephesians 4:1-3 just a few weeks ago; I saw it being lived out yesterday.