Several people—both in personal messages and in comments elsewhere on the internet—have mentioned that “Walther League Redux” does not exactly roll off the tongue. A new league needs a new name!

I couldn’t agree more.

“Walther League Redux” is not a name I would propose for a new league but is instead the unimaginative name I chose for this blog. (I spend most of my leisure time studying history and messing with archives. People who enjoy that sort of thing are not typically renowned for their creativity.) No, even dropping “Redux,” the “Walther League” is probably not the way to go for a new group. So what is?

In my opinion, it is probably slightly too early to be thinking about that sort of thing now. The original Walther League organized under the name, Generalverband der lutherischen Jugend- und Jungmännervereine der Synodalkonferenz (General Association of Lutheran Youth and Young Men’s Societies of the Synodical Conference). It only adopted the shorter, well-known “Walther League” a year later.

I would suggest that the name could be one of the orders of business at the first meeting of the organization. Instead of trying to come up with a name before getting organized, it makes more sense to me to try to get organized, then let the founding members decide on a name for themselves. Corpus Christi, Koinonia, The Federated League of Young Adult Societies of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and Its Partner Church Bodies. . . . The possibilities are endless.

That said, here are a few preliminary thoughts on the matter:

• Branding is important. The late Klemet Preus, in the introduction to his book, The Fire and the Staff, mentioned that he initally wanted to give the book a long technical title. The publisher rightly pointed out that no one would read it if he did. A new league needs a name that people would find compelling, or at the very least not off-putting.
• Relatedly, “league” is probably out. No popular non-athletic organization founded in the last 50 years uses “league” in its name.
• Brevity is a virtue.
• Latin or Greek theological words/phrases might be the way to go. Koinonia is awfully overused these days, and Corpus Christi has been claimed by the Europeans. Fortunately, there are plenty of other options (Una Sancta, for example, hasn’t been used by any organization in the synod for quite some time).

If you have any other thoughts on criteria or suggestions for a new name, I’d be quite interested in hearing them. If you think the name is of vital importance and should be decided now, state your case! My thoughts are far from settled on this point, and I’m guessing others are probably in the same boat.