An Anomalous Belfry

Reflections on Nomenclature

It's been more than a month since I graduated from FGBI/FGBC, or Eston College as we must now call it (according to doxasky's blog - entry from June 7, 2006). That's right; the school's name change finally came about, which means that the wait is over and the rumors have all finally been dispelled.

However, the way in which it was discussed and bantered about for so long, I expected something that would be a bit more original and creative than "Eston College", which simply names the place in which the college resides. I can see how the name would be less imposing and offensive on a transcript or resume when people are trying to get into a restricted access country for missions purposes (which was one of the reasons to change the name), but this name seems so bland - even to the point of seeming sterile and lifeless - something that is totally uncharacteristic of the FGBI that I have come to know and love.

But really, to borrow a phrase, "What's in a name?"

Despite the possibility that we could start calling red, thorny flowers by the term "dilapidated encephalitis", each one would still look the same and smell the same as they did when we called them roses. (With a name that long and hard to spell, we would probably go back to calling them roses pretty quickly anyways.) Dogs would still smell wierd, water would still be wet and arsenic would still kill you, no matter how hard we called them "perfume", "sawdust" and "Al's Herbal Life Boosters".

OK, so that works for flowers and other inanimate objects, but how does the name for a group of people affect the dynamics of those are called by its name or associated with it?

As a case in point, the names of sports teams. Usually, they are a reference to something powerful for the purpose of psychologically pumping up the players and the fans. Names like the Flames, Roughnecks, Storm, Cowboys and the Nemesi are all classic examples of this. Other times, name of a team will refer to something or someone inspiring. Examples of this are "the 76ers" (named after the American Revolution in 1776) or the myriad of European soccer teams that are named after political movements or events (go to the March 9th entry).

It's just not that often that you hear of a guy's rugby team that is called "the exfoliating sponges" or a hockey team calling itself "the shower heads". There's just something missing about those names.

Heck, we even call ourselves "Christians", which according to what I remember from New Testament Survey class literally means "little anointed ones" (or more loosely translated, followers or children of the anointed one, referring to Jesus Christ). Knowing that whenever we call ourselves Christians, we know and identify ourselves as followers of Christ (even if those that we talk to do not understand what that really means) definitely has an impact on the way in which we view ourselves and conduct our lives. Once we give meaning to what it means to be a Christian (or, more specifically, when we begin to understand what the Bible tells us what it means to be a Christian) the name means something to us.

So, I think that the name Eston College has accomplished what it set out to do in the area of giving the college a name that is less forward in proclaiming itself as Christian, instead hoping that the people will be the difference. However, I think that by merely referring to the college as "Eston College", people will immediately ask "What's an Eston?" or "Where's that?" and at that very point in time the first words out of the mouth of the person on the recieving end of the conversation will shape how the perception unfolds. Most people are not a big fan of small towns (heck, even Nathanael asked if anything good could come from one in John 1:46) and that alone will make a world of difference because they may automatically think that the school lacks any credibility whatsoever. By reducing the name to a place, there is less control and stability about what is projected by the school because it now becomes a reflection of the town.

I think that the new name of the school should have been tied to something that is a bit more unchanging and consistent (not saying that the "Full Gospel" moniker always did us a lot of favors either...) instead of tying ourselves to another group of people. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it will be interesting to see what time does to Eston.

Either way, I still support the school because I know what it is like and will continue to recommend it to others. However, there is definitely a a lot of PR work and vision casting that needs to be done in order for any of this to fly because, in my opinion, this change just stumbles out of the gate.

And we will see what happens...

I hope that I am wrong about all this, but only time will tell.

posted by theDING @ 22:01