Our Story

What is a logo?  It seems like a pretty straightforward answer, right?  It’s the public image of an organization.  Done, easy!  But what if I told you that it is much more than that?  What if a logo had the power to communicate our mission and vision as well as identify us as a Church?  I believe that is the case…for me, everything teaches.  This is a common phrase that I use constantly with our staff and leaders here at the Decatur Church of God.  

Many may have questions like:

-Why does your logo look the way is does? 

-Why did you choose the elements that are there? 

-Shouldn’t your logo only represent where your church is located?

These are all good questions! And I can’t wait for you to discover their answers.

Our logo should teach something about who we are and it should beg questions about its parts and pieces. Conversation is the starting point of every relationship we form, and conversation is how Jesus reaches us and the world around us. I love that our logo generates conversation. For us as a church, this logo has the built-in opportunity to express to others what our church is about in a visual way! So, let’s walk through it! 

We find our charge as a church from Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) to go and make disciples of Jesus around the world. But how do we accomplish that? In Acts 1:8 Jesus shows a picture of how that actually happens.  In Acts 1:8, Jesus sends his followers out in the following pattern. Jerusalem (local) Judea (regional) Samaria (state) and all together the World.  It is a specific pattern that increases the message of the Gospel to a larger and larger circle of people. 

For us, Decatur is local, it is where we live, work, and play…It is the largest part of our logo and finds its location at the heart of our logo. Decatur is our primary mission field.

For us, Fort Wayne is our Judea, it is that larger community that shares influence outside or local space. In our logo, it makes up the background skyline of our logo. Our hope is that as we support ministries and partnership in Fort Wayne we expand the local reach of the Decatur Church of God.  While it is true we have no desire to launch a church in Fort Wayne at this time, Jesus still calls us to extend our ministry circle to engage it.

For us, Indiana is Samaria. It is the large overarching home of our people. Indiana’s shape is nestled into the “R” of Decatur.(Did you see it?) Indiana forms a pipeline of strategic partnership with many ministries and organizations that allow us to reach all across Indiana.

Then there is the world… that one is pretty obvious and we find it represented by the circular design as the logo.  Within the circle, we find our whole mission field.  Through our Faith Promise giving our church supports missionaries all around the globe from right here in Decatur.  At the Decatur Church of God, we believe that when all of the parts work together, lives are changed, hope is given, and lives are saved.

As a bonus, you may notice that it’s not a road that leads us out of Decatur; it’s a train track.  This reminds us that the way before us is not paved and finished.  It helps us to see that in this new ministry environment of North America, we are embarking on a New Frontier not unlike the expansion West.  We are creating new pathways leading to new ministry opportunities that may be different that what we have experienced before.

For those of us who struggle with communicating mission and vision, this logo becomes a tool in our hands to describe how our church is attempting to fulfill our mission in the same concentric circle design that Jesus instructed his first followers to do.  It’s more than an image; it’s another method of communicating who we are.  It reminds those outside our walls that we are Decatur, but our reach is beyond.  We endeavor to share the Gospel with people seeking meaning in their lives and purpose beyond today.  We also long to plug them in and help them be a part of a global movement of restoration and peace.   

So, let’s get out there and change OUR world and in so doing change THE world 

-Pastor Brent