A popular church that’s been catering to the spiritual and community needs of the Oxford area for decades has changed its name.

Christ the King Church, located at 1550 W. Drahner Rd., is now LakePoint Community Church.

“We’re a church that’s on a lake and the property comes to a point, so we chose LakePoint,” explained Senior Pastor Bob Holt.

The nondenominational church officially changed its name on Easter Sunday.

“It’s been something that’s been discussed on-and-off for as long as I’ve been here,” Holt said. “The first time we talked about it was way back in ‘87.”

But “every time the subject came up,” Holt said there was some “big project going on or a building expansion” and “we were advised (not to) change (our) name . . . because that won’t help (our) cause.”

After so many years of waiting and debating, the church finally decided to go for it and begin writing a new chapter in its history.

“What tends to happen with churches is they get older and their congregations get older,” Holt said. “If you don’t make leadership changes and (room for) new vision and new ideas, a church can dwindle (away) and cease to exist. We don’t want that to happen. We want to (remain) a viable presence in our community. So, we’re making some changes.”

Holt said the church wants to reach “the next generation” and “we felt a name change would be helpful in doing that.”

He believes the name LakePoint Community Church is “a more honest representation” of what this institution is all about.

Although he loves the old name, the pastor explained that Christ the King has a “more formal” and “more orthodox” ring to it that simply doesn’t fit a place that bills itself as “not your traditional church.”

According to its Facebook page, LakePoint Community Church holds services designed “to appeal to people that have given up on traditional church services” and offers a place where people can ask “spiritual questions without feeling guilty or being condemned.”

The new name is also meant to help distinguish the church from its denominational cousins.

Holt said there are many Catholic and Lutheran churches with the name Christ the King and many others with similar names such as Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church and King of Kings Lutheran Church, both of which are located in neighboring Orion Township.

This leads to a lot of confusion.

“We get all kinds of Lutheran mail,” Holt said. “People often think we must be Catholic or Lutheran. And if they’re not looking for a Catholic or a Lutheran church, they bypass us.”

“We just feel like it’s time to have (a name) that represents who we are a little more clearly,” he noted.

If the name LakePoint sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the name of the preschool opened by the church last year.

Holt said Stevie Murphy, the preschool director, came up with the name and “we all liked it,” so in order to “stay consistent,” they extended it to the entire church.

“We wanted to get ‘lake’ in the name,” he said. “It’s kind of a unique thing for us to have a lake.”

The church’s 40-acre property has frontage on both Long and Cedar lakes, which are part of the Stringy Lakes.

LakePoint Community Church is planning to hold a 35th anniversary celebration from Friday, July 20 through Sunday, July 22.

Holt said the event will honor the church’s past, while looking to the future.

“We’re going to be working between now and then to get the word out to the community,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to be grateful for and thankful for.”

Christ the King Church was originally established in Lake Orion.

It was founded by Wes Peterson in 1983. Services were held at the Elizabeth Street School.

The church purchased the current Oxford property from Fort Street Presbyterian Church in Detroit and held its first service on the site in December 1986.

In 1987, the church that Holt was pastor of at the time, New Life Chapel in Rochester, merged with Christ the King. Holt became the associate pastor.

When Peterson retired in 1990, Holt took over as senior pastor.

For more information, please visit www.lakepointcc.org or call (248) 628-0038.

Services are held on Sundays at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.