Smoky Rooms and Crushed Velvet Jackets Or….
So there we were, in one of our strategy sessions. We were trying to think through some of the issues associated with our new building at 960 Eastland Ave. The important issue of interior signage came up. Since we were renovating a former lumber yard, we thought it would be a good idea (maybe even clever) to name the various rooms, spaces, etc. with an ‘industrial’ motif. That, not to mention the fact that we feel a strong conviction that we desire our worship space to be a point of cultural connectivity (‘becoming all things to all men in order to win some’). In other words, we want our building to be inviting to people. So we dubbed the high school sanctuary the ‘Warehouse’; the junior high sanctuary the ‘Refinery’; the main sanctuary became the ‘Auditorium’, etc. Cafe Agape sounded much too……mmmm….not industrial, so we dubbed the new cafe the ‘Grindhouse’ (as in coffee grind).
Then came the toughy. The semi-round room in the foyer with the fireplace was a tough call. ‘Hearth Room’ was the initial name. It didn’t sit well. It was too…something. The ‘Fireside Room’ fell into the same category. Then it came. It was either creative genius or a really bad idea. There could be no inbetween. Someone (who shall remain nameless-at least until the verdict is in) suggested the ‘Lounge’. Hmmm. Interesting. My first thought was a smoky room with a guy in a crushed velvet jacket sitting at a piano singing cheezy versions of light pop and jazz tunes while people drink martinis and pretend to be suave. Then I thought ‘Hey, maybe that’s a generational connotation of the word ‘lounge’.’ So we discussed the name further and indeed discovered a generational divide. The older generation (of which I am a part) thinks smoky room, velvet jacket guy, etc. while the younger generation thinks something different.
I warmed to the idea. And then I had another thought that moved me further in the direction of the ‘Lounge’. Shakespeare’s profound question and answer came to mind, ‘What’s in a name? A rose by any other name is still a rose.’ To put it in the modern vernacular, it is what it is. The room with the fireplace is going to being the room with a fireplace where people gather before and after services with a cup of coffee and chat with friends or make new ones. It will be the room where lifegroups meet and prayer meetings happen. It will be a room where you go sit down on a comfy sofa or chair and crack open your bible in front of the fireplace on a cold winter day. It will never be a smoke-filled room with a guy in a crushed velvet jacket sitting at a piano singing cheezy versions of light pop and jazz tunes while people drink martinis and pretend to be suave.
So I’m betting that the word ‘lounge’ will actually shift in our collective minds to reflect what our fireplace room actually is. Just like many great rock and roll bands have had to overcome really stupid names-think ‘Beatles’, ‘Pink Floyd’, ‘Hootie and the Blowfish’, etc. Those stupid names eventually morphed in our minds to reflect what those bands actually were. So too, the ‘Lounge’ will change in our thinking…I think.
What do you think?….be nice :)
peace, g
Comments
32 Responses to “Smoky Rooms and Crushed Velvet Jackets Or….”
lol, this blog is classic, I love it. As for the ‘lounge’ I dig that as well. I feel the whole persona that’s being captured with the naming all of the other rooms (warehouse, etc.) but lounge is chill. And from my perspective/generation… What have you, lounge is much more than the smokey room with the velvet jacket.. Elbow patches and all that jazz.. It’s simply what it is, a lounge. And I, myself am a fan of loungin.. Chillin, if you will.. So personally kudos to the name.. And hey, if all else fails.. “the room with the fireplace, couches and coffee tables” I mean heck, that’s a sell out name right their!!.. Jkjk.. Obviously…
Peace and love- jared
Greg,
I go with the bard. But I can’t help it, as a member of the older group when somebody says ‘lounge’ I first think of a place called, I kid you not, “Fat Dicky’s Disco”. Second, probably due to the ‘older’ bit, I think “chaise”.
God Bless You All, Ken
“Fat Dicky’s Disco” I wish I would have thought of that! lol.
bless you brother,
g
My online Dictionary keeps coming up with the word indolent when describing “lounge” – definitely not the conotation for the room you’re looking for. Makes you wonder about teacher’s and student’s lounges the world over…
Keeping with your industrial theme, I’ll submit the reverberatory (ugh, that won’t work), the kiln, or the boiler room.
Maybe even simpler – The room in my house with a fireplace and couches is the “living room” – maybe that or just the “fire” place? I can’t wait to see it whatever you call it. Is it coincidence that we’d be talking about lounges on Labor Day weekend?
God Bless – John
I would agree with John Martin about possibly calling it The Boiler Room or The Kiln. I like the idea of it being called something like that. In so much as refering, to something that is used to bring needed change,renewal or refining through fire. For instance, by going through the Refiner’s Fire. It is only in going through the daily trials of life, sometimes as if through fire, that Christ’s spirit and power while constantly working on us can change us, as long as, we are willing and open to him changing, renewing and refining us. And in turn, his will, will be done in our lives, and we will be on our way to becoming all that he wants and desires for us to be. But just a thought, what if you called it The Fireside Lounge. I mean if you really want to call it a lounge.
May God’s Peace and Blessings be with you all, and may GOD BLESS AMERICA!!
JOHN E. HAWKINS
…hmmmmm….. lounge… im thinking its good… really,… other than your description had me laughing, you who sing!!! our own local lounge lizard!!! but really… please dont call it the boiler room… that should be the name of the room where all the inner workings of the place are..heater, water heater, vaccumm….etc…
thanks for letting us put out 2 cents in!
heidi
Oh Brother! Did Jake and Jed come up with this????
Here’s a few ideas:
The chamber
(very industrail sounding, gives a think-tank sort of appeal..)
The Cleft
(has a certain appeal spiritually speaking, yet is still raw…)
Actually, the Lounge is great…
I like the Lounge, The Boiler Room makes me think of Titanic and we don’t want it to sink! LOL JK I totally dig your discription Greg! As an actress I can totally invision the whole scenario. The Firside Lounge was an awesome suggestion as well. As I was reading it though a name came to me from a song in one of parent’s Gaither Homecoming video’s Called “In The Prayer Room” and thought that was a fitting name as well with the differnt uses for the room. The Prayer Room. A room for meeting with God, a room for healing and mending, a room for coming together. Why does the name have to center around the fireplace? Why not the use of the room. The Prayer Room??? Pray about it!
I don’t know what I would call it but I know what I would do…..on one side place a ladies restroom sign by the entrance and then on the other have a men’s sign, get a good cup o joe and some buddies and watch the hilarity play out…seriously, can we talk to the board about this?
jacob…. oh you who smacked austin in the tush in front of the two glass in jerome…. (was that even during a wedding?) should NOT be in control of naming this room!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA
miss you little brother!!
heidi
Hey Pastor Greg! Wow, the Lounge, hmmm, it’ll do I guess. It does have a comfy feel to it but it also has a smoky room feel to it too. Personally I really like the Boiler Room for the name of the coffee house! Here are some more room names to ponder. Foundation, Gable, Lookout, Electrical, Zone, and my personal favorite…
~The Landing~
Have fun!
Anissa
Wasn’t there a “firesidel lounge” in Jerome or Gooding that was pretty popular for their Prime Rib?
Great ideas Anissa!!!
Jake, you’re such a jester!
oooooooo.. the landing is gooooood, i like that one!!! *smile*
How about the Lion’s Den?
okay I’m with jake! Bro that is not only the freshest idea since sliced bread but one of the funniest. All jokes aside, “The Landing”… So tight, I dig that!
Peace and love
hey, I am totally with Greg on this “lounge” idea, i think that a lot of the names brought up here are awesome including the boiler room (however it totally makes me think of Freddie Krueger, sorry, it just does) but I think the lounge is perfect, however does that mean we cant play any jazz there, or just cheesy jazz?
My husband suggested this morning that we call it the “Lighthouse Lounge”
well played Robert, well played.
I love “The Lounge” and can’t wait to enjoy it!
none of you guys work in a nursing home do you! lounge yuk! sorry i dont know of any super awesome names, but lounge sounds more like a bar or resting home. how about the mill of abrahams bosom. timberline flats, java forest, noah’s bark, or joshua 1;8
lots of love and laughs
your brother in Christ, pumba!
Randie:
I can’t wait for you to enjoy it either!!!!!
Kindle court sounds inviting and warm. A quadrant is an arc of 90 degrees that is one quarter of a circle. Sounds like your room. Perhaps Kindle Quad. Sorry but lounge sounds like a bar or being lazy to me.
the lion’s den? hmmmmmm dont we have a room already with that name? that we send all of those who oppose pastor greg, and they are sacrificed for that weeks blood offering?
oh wait we dont need blood offerings, jesus is the final sacrifice…. jeeeesh what was i thinking?
*smile*
Heidi, Heidi, Heidi! You are soooooo bad!!!
awwwww come on it was funny! admit it!!!
I was blown away when I read this blog!
We just ordered the new sign for our new sanctuary. The sign will be 4×12 right on the main street and lights up at night.
It says “Agape Lounge” with little retro stars shooting out from it. this morning at our mens b fast one of the guys asked if there was going to be a martini glass too.
there wont be any martini glasses but I love the idea of challenging traditional ideas and perceptions, especially those that are of no real consequence.
here’s why, Christianity in general tends to camp in one place too long. Traditions and phrases become dogma and smokescreens and then they become props.
If you dont believe me watch TBN. Thats you in 20 years If you dont stir things up. (Oh God, please dont sentence me to a come-over in a suit with a southern drawl and a globe spinning in the lobby!)
We need a whole new language!!! And there are plenty of words around that havent been worn out that can be useful in stirring the minds of Gods people so as to root out rhumatoid phariseeism.
I recently attended a pastors prayer meeting with about 16 pastors. As they went around the room introducing themselves as reverend so and so from such and such community church, It finally came around to me.
(Many of these guys I have never met) I said, “Im Brian from worship-at-the-river dot com, and I teach the bible at the “agape lounge”.
They stared at me like a calf at a new gate in total silence. IT WAS GREAT!
I think heaven rejoiced!
GREG, call it the Lounge! For God and country!
Oh, Brian… we so miss you!
Yes we do! Ya gotta admit… I teach the Bible at the “Love Lounge” has a bit of a … a . ring.
I can’t wait to visit the agape lounge
Hey Brian,
‘…so as to root out rhumatoid phariseeism….’ Classic line! I feel validated and confirmed, loved and even sort of warm and fuzzy inside. You know what they say, ‘Great minds think alike.’ But so do twisted ones;) Either way, ‘Lounge’ it is–for God and country!
peace, g
Cuel….