Evolution of a Chalice logo

My denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) almost treats our chalice as a sort of “flag pin.”  It can be our visual litmus test.  With so many congregations across the United States and Canada calling themselves “Christian Church,” we distinguish ourselves by our visual logo.  (Note: my reading on our church’s history is that our founders’ emphasis on unity would go against this litmus test — but, alas, we’re no longer the same group as when we began …)

There are many drawbacks to having this logo.  To read more about its history, visit the General Church’s page.  In practice, however, the logo is often confused as a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) logo.  The St. Andrew’s cross is interpreted as a mark of a rule or something forbidden.  Are people in our church allowed to take communion?  Not knowing the history behind the logo, you’d think the answer is “no.”  (The answer is an exclamatory “YES!,” but that’s one of our Gospel messages we’re still practicing).

So earlier this year I tried to find a way to “mess” with the Chalice to create a different studium:

• I wanted its message to reflect our Region‘s identity: “Disciples Together”
• It shouldn’t just involve communion — identity change through baptism is also who we are
• At our core, Disciples know that our relationship to each other and to the whole church (beyond our brand of Christianity) is who we are
• It must be scalable — large and small it should be clear who we are.

Here’s what I came up with. Click on the image for a full-sized version.

Even though I’ve marked the Final versions — I’m not sure it’s finished.  Several of my colleagues and fellow ministers said, “it’s fine, but what about our geographic location?”  I’ve worked with a version to make the shapes of our states (Iowa, Minnesota, South and North Dakota) into a table or plane that the chalice rests on.  But it still doesn’t quite work.