|| UPDATE: I ended up choosing to not give a specific name to our high school ministry. Instead, we simply go by “Mission High School Ministry”, and I couldn’t be happier. I shorten it to MissionHS for our Twitter and Facebook. MISSION is the name of the church I work at. ||
I’ve been thinking about what I should name my new youth group lately. I probably won’t make the switch until next year, but I’m sure I want to.
I loved the name “Merge” when I was at Cornerstone. The definition “to combine or unite so as to become indistinguishable from one another” was a perfect match with Galatians 2:20 “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me“. When we said “Come to Merge!” we were inviting them to a place AND inviting them to come and join their lives with Christ. I could re-name my new group “Merge”, but that would be feisty because the original Merge is ten-minutes down the road. Only kidding…
I’ve been LOVING the word “Union” after reading Brennan Manning’s “The Furious Longing of God“. Check out what he said:
“That’s one of the most explosive words in my Christian vocabulary. The daring metaphor of Jesus as bridegroom suggests that the living God seeks more than an intimate relationship with us. The reckless, raging fury of Yahweh culminates, dare we say it, in a symbiotic fusion, a union so substantive that the Apostle Paul would write: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.'”
The only thing stopping me is that I know of another ministry out there with that name… I’m torn. I like “Union”, but I’d also like to have a name that is a but more active. Something with a little more volume maybe. Or maybe I’ll just keep it lined up with the church’s name (The High School Ministry of Mission Community Church). Hmm…
If you grew up in the church, what was your youth ministry called?
What would YOU name one if you were a high school pastor?
ryanguard.net 
I would avoid any words that a high school guy could also say to a high school girl as a pick-up line like “union” or “merge.” j/k.
How about “Freakin’ Awesome.”
I have always thought that would be a good name for a band, group or boat.
i kinda like E.P.I.C. (mnemonics are really hip)
How ‘about:
“Blend” or “Fusion”
Kind of along the same lines as Union, but a little cooler?
If you grew up in the church, what was your youth ministry called? – Merge! I was part of Pulse at a 7th and 8th grader at Cornerstone. Now I am moving on to Merge!
What would YOU name one if you were a high school pastor? – Hm… My input would be
“Composed”
OR
“United”
🙂
Xtreme?
Souled Out?
SonShine?
The Gate?
God’s Peeps?
4Him?
Ok. But seriously, what about Refuge? The definition for “Flux” is sweet (state of constant change), but I imagine this one could be altered in a bad way quite easily…
Verve?
Breach?
Vertigo?
I’ll keep my thinking cap on…
Oh… My student ministry was called FaithQuake, and we had events like “Aftershock” after church and the youth building was called the “Epicenter”, and our small groups were called “Trimmers”… etc.
these might be my favorite blog comments ever, haha!
Umm… Matt Doan, you’re freakin’ awesome. I’ll keep that name in mind.
Amaris, that’s the worst word on the planet. No soup for you.
Tim Allen, “blend” is not cooler than “union”… but “blender” is. Isn’t there already a “Fusion” ministry somewhere in the Valley??? I feel like I’ve heard of that. Oh, and Aftershock would only make me think of that horrible red liqueur that teenage girls drink to look fancy.
Shelbi, I love “United” but… the band kinda stole that name’s rights.
Jaydubbs, your first 6 were brilliant but then you lost it. Actually, “Refuge” is sweet, but ya… “flux” would be abused from day one.
When Marko was our jr. high pastor, he waited a year, had a huge volunteer staff weekend, and we went over what our priorities were, what it was we really did (as opposed to what we thought we were doing) and what direction we wanted to go. I guess we developed a mission statement. Then we brain stormed and came up with a group name, and names for Wednesday night and Sunday morning that went with that theme. It was a name that we as a staff came up with together and embraced.
M.O.H.
🙂
Cathy that’s a great idea. We were going to change the name this month but I threw an idea just like that one at the team. This is me trying to get a head start 🙂
Wait… what was the name that Marko and you guys picked?
Chris, what are you talking about dude?
How about just “Ryan Guard”
and the tag line would be “What up Sucka”
dubbs said mine, but i always loved the name verve
Doug, I like the way you think. You should become a high school leader and adopt a wonderful group of sophomore boys. Amen.
Cameron, that word takes a lot of energy to say.
You could go with the longer version of Merge that evolved at winter camp. As I remember, Travis had a pretty good graphic that went with it.
I like merge. I know some ministries with the same name, but I don’t think there’s any problem with borrowing a name.
My youth group growing up was called “that one place,” because we always talked about “that one thing.”
Now I lead one ministry (called Fifty6) but work with two others at our church (called The.element and Anthem).
Good luck with your creative process!
Dale, I still have that graphic 😉
Jim, I just had breakfast yesterday with Mr. Element, Steve Carter. Small world. It’s the one and only Joe Hays that I realized has “Union” as the name of his college ministry.
nice dialogue. I guess we should have told you that we already named the ministries this week.
HS – The epic crew of merging students that want to be salt and light to a broken world group! or for short it looks like this t.e.c.o.m.s.t.w.t.b.s.a.l.t.a.b.w.g!
oh, and jr high has taken UNION.
Josh, you’re already fired.
Randomly found your page man.
Ideas that I’ll throw in are:
Solid Rock?
The Haven(period)?
Mpact?
Hi-Limit?
Competition?
1 Way Stop?
Our youth ministry is about to get a name change. I’m in the same boat with our youth pastor about names. Hope it helps. God Bless Bro.
submerge
don’t say it’s too close to merge. or do, but who cares.
Thanks for chiming in Justin 🙂
Amaris, keep it coming. I’m not gonna say it’s too close to Merge! Maybe I’ll call it Purge.
What about something that has to do with light or wildfire…something that’s bright and wild and powerful and reaches out and can’t be ignored?
Kind of like a quote from The Irresistible Revolution: “That is what the kingdom of God looks like. Christians blaze through this dark world and set it on fire with their love. It is contagious and spreads like wildfire.”
I remember one of your talks at EDL was on reflecting the light of God…Luminosity? I looked up luminous in the dictionary: radiating or reflecting light, shining, bright…
Our youth group is called IGNITE!
and I am begining the college ministry still trying to come up with a name, I want something unique and that no one else would have…
In our community we have a lot of teens that skate board. I guess it depends on what community you live in. But I always thought 180 sounds cool. I know that others have used it before, though. It talks about making a complete turn around in a simple word that people are familiar with…
I’m trying to get away from the fire themed names… I’ve had a couple of those already (Ignition & Fuel). It seems like fire is the youth ministry default, or something Xtreme. Those are cool and all, but… I need me something a bit uniquer. 180 is a great picture.
As the Director of Youth Ministry, I’m going through the same “naming” process for both the middle and high school ministries at my church. I’m pretty much decided on “Echo” for our Middle school crew, reflective of Ephesians 5:1-2: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
But I’m relatively stuck on my high school group as well because of a comment earlier I can relate to in the possible inuendo with a name. I wanted to name the group “The Grind”, purely within the scope of the daily grind of being a Christian despite the pressures of the world. But I bounced it off a few high schoolers and parents and heard more about the provocative dance move. I’m open to suggestions as well!
ad4C-armed&dangerous4Christ
mPact
180’XTREME
JCseekers
activ8-4Christ
AGAPE365
TGBG-TO GOD BE THE GLORY
COMMISON28:18
We are still thinking……..Pray about it, God will reveal!
Blessings!
I’m starting an outreach in the City of Atlanta and branching out through metro Atlanta once established in the downtown area. I though of the name
Wanted something on the lines of “Doing Ministry outside the Fourwalls”
If Jesus walked this earth as man today where would you find him
Public Places –
The Meeting Place
BeyondWalls
or something
I personally hate naming youth ministries because it may be cool to the students but confuses the heck out of the parents. This coming from the pastor of Alive Youth Ministries.
I like some of the names above. I’m in the process of getting hired for my 2nd full time position. My first youth group was called LYF (Louisville Youth Fellowship) pronounced LIFE – had programs and sub groups called The Rock, The Journey, GLOW (growing loving outreaching worshiping). The new group I’ll have, I’m not sure.
I like Echo that was mentioned above and Haven.
That’s cool man, good luck landing a new name! We just ended up sticking with “Mission High School Ministry”, since Mission Community Church is the name of our church.
Hi All
thank you so much for your input… I love most of the names.. Merge,EPIC,PULSE,Souled Out,, its a close call now…I lvoe the way Christians come together and share and uplift each other..
Stay Blessed