I have lived in Austin over 3 years and in Austin that is a long time. We live in North Austin which is technically not considered “Austin” if you live in the south, however, it is the part of Austin that I love. It still has the folksy, artsy, creative side to it, but still has the feel of a city. Not sure how you get folksy and city in one place, but North Austin does it.

It is an area that is has over 300,000 people in a 2 mile radius, educated, eclectic, simple, environmental, and this is the area that God has called us to start a new church. At first it felt impossible, however, over the last 3 months it has been intoxicating.

One of the many challenges, which is probably the most simple, is identifying a name. We talked to 100’s of people ran through 50+ different names, tried simple, new, modern, vintage, and in the end we settled on North Village Church. Two reason primarily. The word village captures the folksy part of Austin that I love. This area feels like a small town where you walk your kids to school or they could ride their bikes, but it is surrounded by an exploding city. However, the second one is what sold us was the name of the local library, North Village Library. We knew it was a name that people in the community would know and we knew it was a name that young families moving into the neighborhood would learn.

In the end we know it is just a name. Names are important, but it is the people that make up the name of the church that is much more important. We hope people like our name, but in the end we must be a people that are infatuated with Jesus and can’t help walk in that relationship throughout the week.