If you attended a service at Grace Church this weekend you probably noticed a brand new look around the building! You may also be wondering why Grace Church has unveiled a new rebrand, including a fresh change in the logo and colors used in the space. I recently had a chance to sit down with Lead Pastor Barry Rodriguez and Pastor of Digital Experience Tyler Bender to talk about this new rebrand at Grace Church.
The unveiling of the new logo and visual theme is actually the final culmination of a very organic process that has been growing for quite a while at Grace Church. To understand that process a little better, it might help to take a look at branding basics.
A “brand” is more than just a logo. The Grace Church brand is an intangible representation of the perceptions held by the people who encounter us both inside and outside the walls of our building—including our own perceptions. Since we perceive the world and people around us all the time, Grace Church would have a brand whether or not we took the time to identify and clarify those perceptions. A branding process, like the one our Communications team just completed, simply helps to capture the existing brand and clarify it for those involved to strengthen its best aspects.
The reason behind our desire to do that is written on the wall: Grace Church exists to make disciples of Jesus and launch them into the Mission of God. When we have a clear understanding as a community of the ways we best express our unique identity in God, we are better equipped to carry out our purpose for existence. A prayerful branding process delivers that clarity.
Some of the rebranding process has been going on behind the scenes for the better part of the last year. One example of that behind-the-scenes work has been a clarification of our values at Grace Church. “We’ve recaptured our values, but we didn’t make those up. It’s all based on who we already are,” said Barry. Having conversations with staff and others in our community is an important early step in the branding process.
Visual updates are usually done following the preliminary work of capturing the essence of the brand. If they are to be authentic, new visual aspects should reflect a brand that already has a heartbeat. “The visual representation of our logo is changing, but the experience people have is not going to feel new. It’s going to feel right,” said Tyler. He explained that with this current season of newness and growth at Grace Church, the right time had come to take a fresh look at who we are and what that looks like.
And it does feel right. We’ve been talking a lot about a return to Eden and experiencing New Creation. We foster spiritual growth through sound bible teaching and encouraging people to ask the questions that have previously held them back from a relationship with Jesus. People experience new life in the community they find at Grace Church. Personally, I can attest to my own excitement about living as a branch on Jesus’ vine ever since being launched into the Mission. And I’ve met so many friends here who care deeply about healing the broken places of our world—including caring well for Creation. We are growing in Christ as a community. This lively new look really does feel like it represents us well at this point in our history as a church.
The excitement of our fresh new brand gives us the perfect launching point to tell others about Grace Church and the ways in which we express our God-given identity as a community. This new brand at Grace Church is a reflection of you; of all of us together working and loving others in the name of Jesus. Pastor Barry summed it up perfectly saying, “We’re humbled to be here and happy to be part of it.”