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August 12, 2004
 

A New Symbol for “Bread of Life Christian Church”

          Since April (2004), when I began calling the new church “Bread of Life Christian Church,” a series of images have been spinning in my head.  I’m a visual person, and that’s the way I think.  Over time, as the congregation has begun to take form, some of the images disappeared, others were modified.  After all has been sorted out, what you see is what was left.

          Our new logo is a visual representation of who we say we are and what we hope to become.  As we use it and reproduce it in various ways it will come to be a reminder of our church’s identity.  It is simple and contemporary, rather than traditional, because we are something new!  It is intended to appeal to those who may not be attracted to traditional church.

          The chalice of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is central and prominent in the design because the chalice identifies most clearly who we are: a congregation of this denomination.

          The rest of the symbol is circular in shape.  The circle, a shape with no beginning or end, has, for thousands of years, been a symbol of eternity, and especially of God.  For many, a circle also has come to represent exclusiveness: “circle the wagons” for protection and to keep others out, or “the inner circle” that suggests an elite group.  Our circle is broken.  The chalice (our denomination) is partially included in the circle of “Bread of Life Christian Church,” but we are more.  Our circle is broken so that we might make room for the rest of the human family in our church, in our hearts, and in our servanthood to others.  May “Bread of Life Christian Church” always be welcoming of others, no matter what their age, skin color, sexual orientation, stage in their spiritual journey, socioeconomic situation, or disability.

          Hands holding a broken loaf open the circle.  The loaf represents three things:

  • Jesus, the one we call “the Bread of Life,”

  • the Lord’s Supper, through which Jesus meets us and touches us in worship (after all, communion is at the very heart of our worship), and

  • our own brokenness, as we come to the table to experience the healing that comes from God’s love for us.

          I invite you to look carefully at the new logo.  Use it for some personal reflection or meditation.  Think about the meanings this logo conveys.  Ask yourself how your life is an appropriate symbol for what “Bread of Life Christian Church” is trying to be.  Read this explanation again.  Commit it to heart, so that you might explain it to others when they ask.  Claim ownership of what the symbol represents as we seek to love Jesus and love the world the way he does.

          Yours in Christ’s service,

 

Michael

August 12, 2004