Throughout history, people have theorized about the importance of names, as in Shakespeare, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” A rose might smell just as sweet by any other name, but our names, as people, hold greater significance. They are not interchangeable! When someone knows our name, and calls us by name, it resonates with us.
In Dunn, North Carolina, the Daily Record has achieved unprecedented success. During a time when newspapers are struggling, the Daily Record is thriving! Dunn is a small town south of Raleigh. There are about 14,000 residents and almost all of them read the local paper. Chip and Dan Heath report that the Daily Record has a penetration rate of 112 percent. This means either families are buying more than one copy of the newspaper or people from outside of Dunn are buying it.
The newspaper has been run by Hoover Adams for over fifty-five years. He focuses on covering local news. In 1978, he wrote a memo to his staff, which has served as the newspaper’s guiding principle. “All of us know that the main reason anybody reads a local newspaper is for local names and pictures. That’s the one thing we can do better than anybody else.”
This is not a new grand theory, but it retains an enduring focus. Names are important! When we know a person’s name, it communicates care, support, and kindness. We can extend a welcome, and we can offer hope by calling out a person’s name. It is simple, and yet, profound. It is the one thing we can always do better, making others know they are seen and valued by the church.
We can learn the names of others. We can get to know them. We can value people’s names as we call them out loud!
– Tripp