Blue Course Community Church leaders post in front of the new parish sign. Photo by Mary Roe Photography
Although you may not recognize its name, the Blue Course Community Church has called State College home for decades. Now, after a period of self-initiated rebranding, the local parish is putting more emphasis on its efforts in the community.
Blue Course Community Church, which was previously called State College Evangelical Free Church since 1987, debuted its new name in September around Labor Day. Parish leaders say the updated branding provides a simpler view of the church’s core values.
“It’s the idea of becoming a light in the community. Many groups use our building. Obviously, we organize elections and blood drives here. Some groups even hold bridge sessions in the afternoons,” said Keith Maurer, the church’s senior pastor. “It’s like we’re going back to the idea of a ‘community church,’ part of one of the names of the our predecessors. Our new name now reflects our current location on Blue Course Drive, but the community remains the focus.”
While the church often offers its facilities at 1243 Blue Course Drive to local organizations, it also aims to make an impact through daycare services and community events. Blue Course Community Church will host theirs annual fall festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, October 22, with bounce houses, family games, pumpkins and more. This year, the party doubles as an opportunity to celebrate the church’s new name.
Community efforts are not a new focus for the Gospel-centered church. In fact, the main proponents of the name change say the rebranding process hopes to align the parish with its scriptures.
“We feel that Jesus’ ministry was about community and people, and we want to be the same way,” said Tim Miller, a longtime churchgoer. “We want to be a church that’s involved in our community. I guess if our church left the community, it would be nice if people would miss us. That’s one way of thinking about it.”
Tim Miller, posing with his family, helped encourage the church’s name change. Photo by Mary Roe Photography
The new name Blue Course Community Church also hopes to clarify the mission of the parish. Miller said some community members and parishioners were sometimes confused by the church’s previous name, perhaps both literally and figuratively.
“Evangelical free” sounds like you’re free from evangelism, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. That would confuse some people who are looking for an evangelical church,” Miller said. “‘Evangelical’ has also become kind of a political word in recent years, and we don’t want anything to do with politics. We have our own opinions, but that has no place in our church. People of all opinions are welcome, and it’s a shame that people think we’re a political church if, in their eyes, you have a political name.”
“We wanted to have a name more in line with our vision as a church, which is to be an important part of the community in which God placed us,” added Maurer.
Maurer noted that name changes have become increasingly common for evangelical churches across the country. But although the title of the church has changed, it is still associated with it Free Evangelical Church of Americawhich sponsors more than 1,600 parishes throughout the country.
“We are not changing our theology or disassociating ourselves from the denomination. It’s more about the name and its perception,” said Maurer. “Honestly, we’ve heard of many other churches that have done exactly the same thing. These name changes often give churches better opportunities to reach their communities.”
As the desire for a new name spread throughout the church, parish leaders met to brainstorm names, discuss key goals and weigh their options. Maurer said a church-wide vote in support of Blue Course Community Church was nearly unanimous. The change was made official with a new website and exterior sign.
Although changing the name of the church was not the most difficult process, it inadvertently required several years to consolidate. These discussions began before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they never stopped entirely. Long periods of isolation in 2020 and 2021 helped parish leaders re-examine the need for strong community relationships.
“A lot of things during the pandemic were closed or slowed down. The name change is one that we somehow managed to keep active, so we kept moving forward with it,” Miller said. “We’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but COVID-19 put a magnifying glass on these issues of isolation that we see in our culture. If anything, it helped us double down on the direction we’re already going.”
The name Blue Course Community Church is only a month old, but parish leaders say the community’s reception has already lived up to expectations.
“Most people in our church knew about it, so no one was too surprised by the change,” Miller said. “I know some people outside the community have commented. —Yes, we know this blue course church. Many knew us by our location and our services rather than our old name. So far, it’s been encouraging that people outside of our church see us the way we would like to be seen: as a member of the community.”
For more information about Blue Course Community Church, including its worship services and community events, visit their website or follow their Facebook page.
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