Change means more to church than simply a new name

There is a new name in town, but it belongs to a familiar church.

Say goodbye to Eastside Community Church, hello to Christ Church.

The name change for the church, which is near East 21st Street North and North 143rd Street East, has happened over the past few months, said Dennis Turner, lead pastor and founder.

The change came as the result of a dream and numerous prayers, Turner said.

His dream came in April, and it has brought the church a renewed focus as elders and church members became more involved in the church’s mission.

“There were several things that God showed me would be unfolding, but one of the things in the dream is that the name of the church should be Christ Church,” Turner said. “If you look at it from an identity standpoint, I like it, because it identifies us with Christ. We are his people. Our domain name is Christ people. It is not location specific.”

Eastside Community Church began 23 years ago, and it has been in various places, including Coleman Middle School, Trinity Academy, Wichita Collegiate School and even a storefront in Andover before moving to its current location about 10 years ago.

Turner said Sunday that when the church formed nearly a quarter of a century ago, church members did so with the intent of serving the east side of Wichita. But now, with more than 500 members from communities throughout Sedgwick and Butler counties, it seemed fitting to change the name.

“We thought we’d be an east-side church serving east-siders, because that’s where we were,” he said. “What we actually grew into and continue to become is an incredibly diverse congregation with families and members from across the metro area, including Andover.”

As the name change began to unfold, Turner said, he began meeting with other pastors in Wichita to pray for the city.

“We have prayed for the church to be awakened and revived and that it becomes one church and not divided or separated or segregated and the city be redeemed – every dark place be illuminated,” he said. “That’s been the focus of our gathering. The last time we gathered was at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, where 1,000 people came together and worshiped.”

The church has also changed its website address to ChristPeople.church. The renaming began in October with an announcement to the congregation.

The church on Sundays is filled with rock music, applause at the end of songs and coffee aficionados in the aisles.

The songs are the types that have a powerful bass that shakes the soul and rocks the heart.

On a day when winter temperatures barely climbed into the teens, Turner told the more than 200 people who had come to worship that the church had a 20/20 policy.

“If it gets to be 20 below zero and there has been 20 inches of snow that’s fallen, we will cancel services,” he said. “Otherwise, we will be here. If you can make it, we would love to have you gathering in the presence of God.”

Worship services are at 2:30, 4 and 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, with no service on Christmas Day. Sunday services will resume on New Year’s Day at 9 and 11 a.m.

“We are a biblical community so Christ Church seems more fitting to be part of our name,” Turner said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Change means more to church than simply a new name."