Temple changes name

A new worship facility isn’t the only thing changing about Temple Baptist Church of Odessa — its name is too.

Temple is now CrossRoads Fellowship and staff members will make it official Sept. 24 by moving to their new offices at the church’s future location at Billy Hext Road and Highway 191.

“We’re kind of in transition,” said the Rev. Reggie Baker, the church’s administrative pastor. “On the 24th we’ll pretty much be CrossRoads — right now we’ll answer to either one.”

Baker said the church’s leadership staff had prayed about a name change for several years, weighing the pros and cons of the venture.

“Our leadership was unanimous when we presented it. There was such a strong consensus among the people,” he said.

Efforts to reach the Rev. Griffin Jones, senior pastor, were unsuccessful on Friday due to his absence from the country on a missions trip.

Baker said the new name embraces where the church is at — its new location and vision for ministry.

Its current Wednesday night Bible classes for adults have already been named “CrossRoads University.”

“We’re at a crossroads at Billy Hext and 191, and we want to engage people who are at a crossroads in their own life,” he said. “We’re not running from our past or trying to create distance from it, but we’re running toward our future.”

Temple Baptist Church has been near downtown Odessa for more than 65 years.

Some church members have expressed reservations about the change, Baker said, but the overall attitude from the new name is a very positive one — even without the Baptist title.

“In today’s world, we’re finding that people who are not normally in church have very little use of denominations,” he said. “For a lot of people, it becomes a deterrent more than anything.”

For churches today, denominational titles mean very little, Baker said, because even those with the same name teach different things and hold to differing beliefs.

“There’s about 50 varieties of Baptists in the U.S. alone and doctrinally they’re all over the map,” he said. “We figured (the title Baptist) could be more of a liability than an asset down the road. We’re independent already, so why not reflect that in our name?”

Baker said the church has experienced some attrition because of various changes like music styles, worship environment, programs, the northeast move or the transitioning name change. But at the same time, those changes have attracted others to fill the gaps.

“We sure hate to have people leave for those kinds of reasons, but there are many more people that come through the door because of those changes,” he said. “The church right now exists for the people who aren’t in church yet — we want to create a safe environment for a dangerous message.”