What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?

We youth workers have a thing about names. Our buildings, spaces and groups all have ‘catchy’ names.  I have a vivid memory of sitting with a group of youth workers at a Youthwork conference and comparing the names of various groups – Sanctuary, Impact, Fuel, The Den, The Loft… – and feeling a little disappointed that we used the name ‘Youth Group’!  But why do we place such importance on a name?

Our name is at the heart of our identity.  It offers an insight into who we are.  The names of our buildings, spaces and groups reflect their aims and activities, and our belonging to them reflects on us and says something about who we are.

We read in the Bible of several instances where an encounter with God led directly to a name being changed.  In the Old Testament, Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and in the New Testament Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul.  Each time the transformational power of this encounter with God was symbolically accredited.

There’s also something very special about being called by your name.  Can you imagine being called by another name? I find it hard enough recognising my full name! I’m Dan. Only my mother ever calls me Daniel (and that’s usually when I am in trouble!)  If I were to change my name now it would challenge who I am and what I have experienced in my thirty years of life. It would bring into question everything that I have experienced up until this point and would cause me to question and reflect on my history.

There is also something very relationally powerful in a name. How often do you turn around when you hear someone call yours? (How hard do you try to remember the names of new young people you meet?) Our name identifies us; it makes us more than just another person. It gives us importance and when someone remembers it we feel significant.

One of our groups has been called ‘Youth Group’ for the last seven years. Our original members have now largely moved on and new members do not feel any affinity with the name ‘Youth Group’. In fact, when they hear others referring to the ‘Youth Group’ they think of those young people now at University or in work, who previously formed the group. When we discussed this with them, aware that it was important to engender a sense of ownership, not only did we grow together as a group, but we realised that this change was more significant for our volunteer team, who had journeyed with the previous group of young people and we needed to take time to process this. Excitingly, three months on and helped by exploring this with our young people, we developed the name ‘Ambition’. This signifies what this group of young people are about, and the naming process has transformed their attitude to the group.

So, when we work with young people to develop names for projects, buildings and rooms, not only do they usually come up with better suggestions, but we are doing more than just engendering a sense of ownership and participation. We are actually saying something about who we are.

Dan Crouch is a youth worker in the Parish of Keynsham and studying for an MA in Leadership and Mission with CYM.