Faith Community Church

From layers of legacy to fresh identity: Rebranding a small urban church

Brand Development

Faith Community Church (FCC) had gone through several identities by the time I was asked to help them rebrand. The small Providence church began life as Faith and Hope Baptist Church in 1984 and then merged with a local church plant, West End Community Church, in 2018. FCC had experienced several changes in leadership since the early 2000’s and the current pastor, Dexley Dorcely, inherited a brand that was a mix of legacy elements from the original church and some newer elements that had resulted from the merger.

Dexley wanted to start fresh and develop a brand that reflected the church’s circumstances as a small, urban faith community with a diverse congregation and their vision to share God’s love with the surrounding neighborhoods.

Comparison of two logo designs for Faith Community Church side by side, labeled 'Before' and 'After'.

The church team consisted of Dexley (the senior pastor), Jonathan (an associate pastor), and Sarah (a member of the congregation), which I took through several workshops to develop a new mission, vision, and core values. One of the benefits of working with a small church is the absence of an executive committee or elder board that would typically slow down the process. So the team and I were able to work quickly and codify important decisions during the brand strategy process.

In addition to the more formal and pastoral input from Jonathan and Dexley, Sarah provided a much-needed perspective “from the pews” and contributed some terrific brand gems such as “family of misfits” and being “other-full” which helped ground the new brand and make it more accessible.

A black ink drawing featuring various abstract shapes and geometric forms, including spirals, rectangles, and stylized letter-like figures arranged in a scattered pattern on a white background.
Logo of Faith Community Church, featuring a stylized icon of four figures in a circle and the church name in bold black text.
Black and white logo of Faith Community Church with circular design and stylized initials F and C.
Text graphic for Faith Community Church in black bold letters on white background.

Some early sketches and concepts for the new FCC logo. Sketches are a great place to start because they allow you to get rid of all the bad ideas quickly. That “nested” F & C looked really good in my imagination.

I presented three different concepts to the church team for the visual brand, ranging from familiar to ones that were more contemporary and pushed the limit on what a church logo “should” look like. I intentionally avoided obvious spiritual symbols like crosses, doves, flowing water, or flames.

After reducing the visual brand down to two options, they were put to a secret ballot vote from the congregation and I took the winning concept forward into a complete identity system with multiple versions of the logo, color palette, and recommendations for typography.

A branding guide for Faith Community Church showing logo variations, color palette, font details, and usage instructions.

For the logotype, I made “Faith” and “Community” larger to create a visual hierarchy in the name. At one point I tried to convince the team to drop “church” from the new logo altogether, reasoning that the term “Faith Community” could carry all the weight and communicate the concept just as effectively. The team wasn’t willing to go that far and we settled for a smaller font size for “church.”

The new color palette of purples, yellow, and oranges was also a departure from typical church colors. Dexley and the rest of the team wanted something that would provide a visual punch.

Group of diverse people posing for a photo outdoors at Faith Community Church, with some holding pumpkins and others smiling, in front of a grassy area and buildings.
A young girl with long brown hair, wearing a white T-shirt with a blue geometric design, and pink pants, sitting on a beige textured sofa with her hands resting on the cushion.
A cylindrical spray paint can with a purple body and a white cap, featuring a yellow logo with abstract human figures holding hands in a circle.
Young woman with curly hair wearing sunglasses and a purple T-shirt with yellow, orange, red, and blue text standing outdoors in front of a white wall with trees and blue sky in the background.
Sign for Faith Community Church with a blue background, white logo, and text indicating Sunday service at 10:30 am. The sign also has the church's website, faithhri.org, and a tagline about building God's family and caring for the community. It is mounted on white posts in front of a brick building with some shrubbery and trimmed bushes nearby.
A man wearing a yellow hoodie with 'other-full' written inside a blue circle on the front. The hoodie also features the Faith and Community Church logo and text below the circle.
“Our church had undergone years of change, and we knew it was time to bring greater clarity to our mission and vision. Justin was the perfect partner to help us do that. He guided us through a thoughtful, collaborative process that resulted in clear and unified language around our purpose, direction, and values—along with a refreshed brand that truly represents who we are.”
— Dexley Dorcely, Senior Pastor

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