The Southern Baptist, the largest Protestant denomination with headquarters in Nashville, will retain it’s name – kind of. “After months of speculation, a task force recommended that the Southern Baptist Convention retain its historic name. But the task force also recommended that local churches that don’t like the name Southern Baptist use the name Great Commission Baptists .” You can read the full article from the Tennessean by clicking here.
Like every other person outside of their group, I think the Southern Baptist should change their name for the obvious reasons. First, the “Southern” designation links the movement back to it’s pre-Civil War opposition to the abolition of slavery. In addition, the name “Southern” communicates a regional bias to the South that is contrary to the evangelical fervor of this movement.
I predict most people reaching people under age 60 will start using the term “Great Commission Baptist”, while churches orientated to an older congregation will stick to the “Southern Baptist” term.
Aaron's Angle 
Too bad there have to be so many denominations when there is only one True God…just like us humans to complicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In heaven we will all be called “Christians”…sounds like a good name here on earth too…but we can’t do that…can we? How about this…Christian Church on Fourth St., Christian Church on Gallatin Rd., Christian Church…you get my drift…but we can’t do that because there are so many interpretations of the Bible…if we could only agree on the most important thing…
The only problem I have with the name Great Commission Baptists is that it could be taken to imply that the other Baptists (Southern, Free Will, Missionary, Full Gospel, etc.) do not focus on the great commission. I think they should have gone all or nothing with the name change. Allowing some to choose Southern and other to choose Great Commission only further divides an organization that is already prone to division. But what do I know, I’m just a recovering pentecostal.