How do I find out if the name I want to use for my youth ministry is already being used?

That would be governed by trademark/servicemark laws. The USPTO has a database of federal registrations and states have databases of state registrations. Keep in mind many marks are not registered, but still have common law protection. I'd recommend speaking with an attorney to have a mark search performed. My office offers free initial consultations if you are interested is speaking with us.

This is more of a trademark question than a patent question. But you can start by searching with Google or Bing or some other search engine. Be aware that a mark does not need to be registered to be enforceable. Common law protection is available for trademarks. Next, you could search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at tess2.uspto.gov. This will only be a search through federally registered marks and may help you eliminate a few options. Common law protection can exist without registration. Then you or your attorney should perform a full clearance search through Thomson and Thomson. http://trademarks.thomsonreuters.com/searching/full-searches Whether or not a proposed mark is likely to encounter a problem is a question best asked to an experienced trademark attorney. For example, famous marks have more rights associated with them than non-famous marks. Some marks are too descriptive and not easily protectable.

Start with the Texas Secretary of State and your local county clerk. You can also check the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

You should do a basic trademark screening search after you search the internet yourself to see if you can find anybody using that name or something similar to it. You should always do your own searching first and should use standard search tools that you are already familiar with like Google/Yahoo/etc. However, there are 8 to 13 factors that the different courts use to decide if two names are too similar, and your searching will not explore that area well. You could easily miss something important and end up infringing someone else's rights and getting in trouble. So, if your search looks clean then call an attorney and have them search for you. Plan on spending between about $300 - $2,500 for a search depending on the law firm and how extensive a search they plan to do.

One place to start your search would be the US trademark office website.