Redemption Christian Church: With expansion comes new name

Same church. New name. More locations.

Christian Church of Jasper will change its name to Redemption Christian Church. After months of discussion among staff and leadership, Senior Minister Darrel Land told the congregation of the upcoming change in his sermon, “Tearing Down The Fences” this past Sunday.

The church will transition to the new name throughout May in all communications, web and social media presence, and in other avenues. Plans call for the transition to the new name to be complete by June 1.

The name change is being implemented as Redemption Christian Church prepares to open its first multi-site location in nearby Loogootee later in 2016. The Loogootee campus will be located in a former Shopko/Pamida building near the intersection of US 231 and IN 50.

The Jasper campus will remain at 1450 Energy Dr. on the south side of town off of the 162 bypass.

The expansion and name change mark another milestone in the church’s 16-year history.

Started as a church plant in May 2000, the church has grown from a few dozen people in the early years to more than 1,600 people worshipping each week at its Jasper campus.

From the first few weeks in a Days Inn meeting room, to a year in Jasper 8 Theaters, to five-plus years in an industrial warehouse space on Cathy Lane in Jasper, to the current Jasper campus building in 2007 and expansion in 2011 and 2014, Redemption Christian Church has always been on a mission to change the spiritual landscape of southern Indiana with a consistent focus on the gospel and loving God, loving people, and seeing the world change by God’s power.

“When we started this church God had given us a vision of reaching a lot of people. I knew He was going to do big things but, as often is the case, God did more than I could have possibility imagined,” Senior Minister Darrel Land said. “This church’s influence and impact quickly overcame the geographic boundaries we started with and we soon became a regional church. But, we had chosen a name that doesn’t reflect that. The name served us well but doesn’t really reflect who we are that well. One of the reasons we often used ‘CCJ’ is because ‘Christian Church of Jasper’ seems so geographically driven.”

Land added that maintaining the current name could become a stumbling block as it expands into the surrounding area.

The word ‘redemption’ is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.” In theological terms, redemption is God’s pursuit of sinners though the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, defeating sin, death, and hell.

In the New Testament book of Colossians, the apostle Paul wrote, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Land added, “In Him we have redemption. The theme of redemption is what the Bible is all about. God redeems our souls, he redeems our messes and He redeems our story. So we kept thinking about that and landed on the new name, ‘Redemption Christian Church.’”

As Redemption Christian Church transitions to being one church in multiple locations, the church’s mission continues, unchanged.

“We are the same church with a new name in more locations. We always have been — and will always be — about spreading the name of Jesus in word and in deed in order that people may be redeemed — and through his church, communities, schools, neighborhoods will be redeemed through Jesus Christ,” Land said.

For more information, please visit RedemptionIN.com, like the church on Facebook, follow on Twitter, Instagram and other social media, download the church’s app for mobile devices, tablets, and Apple TV, or call 812-481-2410.