CONGREGANTS ASKED TO NAME NAMES AS LUTHERAN CHURCH SEEKS IDENTITY.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

What's in a name?

Marion Morrison changed his to John Wayne and became a cowboy, tough-guy movie star; song writer-piano player Reginald Dwight adopted the moniker Elton John and cultivated a flamboyant stage persona.

In that spirit, the 31-year-old Lutheran Church of the Master is considering a name change that its pastor hopes will foster a contemporary image and lure more members to its congregation.

The Rev. Sam Platts, the church's pastor for the past 21 years, has invited congregants to submit suggestions.

So far, about 50 have come in, including Christ Community Church, The People's Church and Community Church of Joy.

``Then there's some funny ones, like `Ole and Sven's Big Building' and `The Best Little Church in Sylmar,' '' Platts said.

The suggestions will be whittled down by votes of the congregation. Platts said he even plans to conduct a survey June 8 outside a local supermarket, asking shoppers ``Would you go to a church with a name like this?'' A final decision could be made in the late summer or early fall.

The idea, he said, is to bring more worshipers into the fold to replace those who have moved away.

``We want to invite them in, not to save us, but so we can help them,'' Platts said, noting only a handful of the congregation's original members still remain. ``We preach the love of God, not fire and brimstone,'' he said.

``We've always been a young congregation. For some reason, they don't grow old here,'' he mused. ``In 21 years, I've only done nine funerals. I've done lots of baptisms and marriages, but I haven't done many funerals.''

Lutheran Church of the Master, a Glenoaks Boulevard house of worship established in 1965, was christened by founding pastor Harvey Anderson.

``He always wanted to be a pastor of a church with that name,'' said Platts.

``About 30 years ago, people apparently thought that was a dandy name,'' Platts said, admitting even he used to like it.

But over the years, Platts has seen the name butchered in the mail that the church receives. It comes addressed to ``The Masters'' - ``Meaning golf?'' Platts jokes.

Others think the name is ``Church of the Martyr'' - different denomination - or even ``Church of the Mistress,'' Platts said. ``Or you get `Lutheran Church of the Grand Master,' which sounds like some sort of Masonic order,'' he said.

``Most people have no idea what the word `master' means,'' he said. ``People had no concept that the word `master' refers to Christ.''

That, he theorizes, is because there aren't too many Lutherans in Southern California. The denomination's strongholds are Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, home to people of German and Scandinavian descent who make up most of the Lutheran ranks.

Platts said that whatever moniker his church adopts, it will remain part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the denomination's Chicago-based governing body - which, by the way, has no objection to the proposed name change.

The ELCA won't even mind if the congregation drops the word ``Lutheran.'' After all, Platts said, that was just a designation that a Catholic pope gave the religious movement started by 16th century reformer Martin Luther.