Before a revision to the name and new logo adopted by the board of directors in 2019, the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center began as “The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Cultural Center.” The name was soon changed to “The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center.” A few years later, the moniker “CrossRoads” was adopted, with a tagline of "Journeys of Faith and Conscience." The full name was then, CrossRoads | The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, but there were many derivations in use. In 2018, the board of directors took up the issue of providing more clarity and a fresh look with a revised name and logo.
One aspect of Brethren and Mennonite culture is a desire for simplicity. A task force assigned to work on the issue moved first to discontinue the use of CrossRoads. Later, the decision to move the Valley to the tagline allowed them to further shorten the name. It also elevated the significance of this Brethren and Mennonite collaboration. This is, after all, the only heritage center in the world where the Brethren and Mennonites have chosen to tell their shared stories and history as one. The “Heritage” is prominent in the logo to help tourists reading informative literature and community members passing the street sign to know without a doubt that the organization deals with history and heritage. The “Brethren & Mennonite” portion of the logo assumes more prominence than it did in previous logos as well. There was much discussion as to the question of a hyphen versus an ampersand in the name, and in the end the board decided that the ampersand did the most to remove the possibility of confusion for people unfamiliar with Brethren and Mennonites.
“The mission of this organization has always been to share and celebrate the story of Jesus as reflected in the lives of Brethren and Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley. It is a mission of heritage, knowing who we are and who we have been. That we are a heritage center has long been clear. That we are Brethren and Mennonites is clear as well. So with this fresh name and new mark, let us simply claim and proclaim what has long been true; this is the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center, the only center in the world where the shared heritage of Brethren and Mennonites is remembered and told as such—a shared heritage.
The new logo is also an expression of our desire for simplicity. The dove represents our shared history of peace in the way of Jesus. The wax seal represents the covenant community, interpreted symbolically for an audience that may not be familiar with traditional Brethren or Mennonite symbolism. Through this mark, we hope to further open the door to those around us in an effort to share our stories of faith from the Shenandoah Valley—the stories of Brethren and Mennonites, peacefully together. ”
