Reach.

I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9:23 NIV

In this passage, the Apostle Paul makes the point that he is becoming all things to all people. Right before this passage, he writes “To those under the law I became like one under the law…to win those under the law. To those without the law I became like one without the law…to win those without the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.”

Paul was not abandoning his faith or beliefs but understanding and implementing different ways to reach people within the contexts in which he found himself. To meet people where they were, walk with them, and minister the Gospel of Christ to them. This required him to be intentional about looking at the environment and paying attention to people: what are their struggles, pains, comforts and joys, their questions and concerns of the day, etc. How could Paul bring Christ's love and light to meet them where they are? This is the world that we live in today as well.

Some of you may have noticed that St. Andrew’s UMC has a new look in its communications. A new look in our email newsletters, marketing, and on social media. Included with this is a new “branding.” It’s a new symbol that identifies us as St. Andrew’s UMC. Branding is widespread in our society today.

For example, below is an example of branding. Most everyone would recognize this as the retail store outlet, Target. But nowhere on that brand does it say “Target” or any indication that it is a retail outlet. We just know that it is Target from the image.

This is the same idea for the new branding symbol for our church (see below) Nowhere in this symbol (the circle) does it identify us as a church, or a UM church. The aim is to flood our communications with this symbol so when your average Joe and Mary see it, they will say, “Hey that is that welcoming church with all those great ministries at the corner of Bloomingdale and Bryan.” We are a society that is more immediately attracted to visuals. Especially the younger generation whom we are trying to attract who rely more on social media for their communication.

This does not mean we are separating ourselves from The Cross and Flame logo of the UMC or replacing it with this emblem. Or that St. Andrew’s is steering away from the denomination. NO WAY. Just look at the huge cross and flame on the side of your church building. The new digital sign (which should be up by the end of March) will still say “St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church.” Our branding symbol will be on the sign, but the Cross and Flame will be prominent on the digital screen. And on our Web site.

In fact, there are many United Methodist Churches, including some in The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, who use The Cross and Flame AND a symbol to brand the unique ways in which they serve the communities in which they are located. The new branding symbol is a modern look that identifies us as St. Andrew’s UMC and can be considered our missional branding in the specific ways that we "Reach. Create. Serve." our surrounding community, which coincides with the UMC brand "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." It differentiates us from other churches. The symbolism within the brand identifies our three missional aims, to REACH people with Christ's love (Open hearts.), CREATE Christian community (Open minds.), and SERVE others as followers of Jesus Christ (Open doors.).

Exploring the symbolism further (see graphic below):

• The circle emblem represents unity, commitment, love, and community.

• The dark blue gray demi circle represents Reach: reaching and meeting people where they are.

• The light blue gray demi circle represents Create: creating safe community to learn and grown in Christ with each other.

• The darker white space in the center appears to be the smallest portion but fills the entire circle of unity underneath. It represents the open space of God’s grace and the collective body’s open heart.

• The orange half circle represents our greatest missional call to Serve others and love our neighbor.

We don’t expect everyone to pick up on the symbolism, but we do hope that when one sees the brand, they recognize it as that missional church, St. Andrew’s UMC. We are committed to our United Methodist ideas, as identified by The Cross and Flame, for those who recognize its significance. And we are uniquely identified as this church, among a slew of other churches, by our new modern brand. We are not changing our beliefs or who we are as United Methodists. We are just reaching out to a diverse community that we live in “to be all things for all people.”

#TheUnitedMethodistFamily #ThepeopleofTheUnitedMethodistChurch #Openhearts.Openminds.Opendoors. #St.AndrewsUMC #Reach.Create.Serve.