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Spring Lake's Christ Community Church removes cross, changes name to C3Exchange

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SPRING LAKE — A prominent Spring Lake church removed its cross Tuesday and has changed its name as part of a series of moves intended to make it more inclusive

C3Exchange, 225 E. Exchange, Spring Lake, was formerly known as Christ Community Church. The Rev. Ian Lawton, the church’s pastor, said the name change and removing the cross were designed to reflect the church’s diverse members.

“Our community has been a really open-minded community for some years now,” he said. “We’ve had a number of Muslim people, Jewish people, Buddhists, atheists. ... We’re catching up (to) ourselves.”

C3Exchange will hold a public meeting to address questions about the changes at 7 p.m. Thursday at Grand Haven Community Center, 421 Columbus.

“Nothing’s going to be expected of anyone” who attends, Lawton said. “You don’t have to sign up for anything. It should be a good, lively evening.”

Lawton said the church decided to change its name about a year ago and began taking ideas from members. He said the new name was chosen because the church is on Exchange Street, and “our community is a place where people can come to exchange ideas.”

He said the church is considering painting a heart, a globe and the word “exchange” on its exterior wall on the side where the cross stood, to symbolize “one love” for “all people.”