Why the name Vital?
Someone once asked my wife and I why we didn’t give our two boys “biblical” names. I responded saying that the men in the bible did not have “biblical” names until after they had been divinely chosen or after having done something worthy of being included in the Bible. I explained that although there will always be only one true Bible, that I hoped and prayed that my children would grow up to such protagonists in the kingdom of God that they would make a name for themselves just like Moses, David, Daniel, Paul and others in the Bible. Who knows, perhaps someone might even name their children after mine someday.
I applied the same line of reasoning in asking God for wisdom in choosing a name for our church plant. It was a challenge being that envisioning a bilingual ministry, we were hoping for a name that would have a similar spelling and pronunciation both in English and Spanish. Names like “Bethel” or “Calvary” or “Gethsemane” are great. But again, they are now “biblical” names because of the historic things that occurred in those places. And we wanted our church to honor that history but also make its own.
“Vital” caught my eye I because it is spelled the same in English and Spanish. Its two primary definitions are “full of life” and “essential or indispensable.” Immediately we knew that those were two characteristics that we wanted our church to embody. That the Spirit of God would make our church a place full of God’s presence and power. Alive! And that the people who walked through our doors would be so impacted in a positive way, that they made the church an essential, even indispensable, component of their lives. Two and a half years later, by God’s grace, we can say, “mission accomplished.” We are Vital Church.
I applied the same line of reasoning in asking God for wisdom in choosing a name for our church plant. It was a challenge being that envisioning a bilingual ministry, we were hoping for a name that would have a similar spelling and pronunciation both in English and Spanish. Names like “Bethel” or “Calvary” or “Gethsemane” are great. But again, they are now “biblical” names because of the historic things that occurred in those places. And we wanted our church to honor that history but also make its own.
“Vital” caught my eye I because it is spelled the same in English and Spanish. Its two primary definitions are “full of life” and “essential or indispensable.” Immediately we knew that those were two characteristics that we wanted our church to embody. That the Spirit of God would make our church a place full of God’s presence and power. Alive! And that the people who walked through our doors would be so impacted in a positive way, that they made the church an essential, even indispensable, component of their lives. Two and a half years later, by God’s grace, we can say, “mission accomplished.” We are Vital Church.
- Pastor Chali Martinez