Thursday, March 24, 2016

Change Your Sign

Many churches were among the first to join the movement of buying signs with changeable letters so we could share information with the public driving past our properties. For many of these churches, this was a good idea gone bad. Unfortunately, many of our good church ideas seem to go bad.


A church I served in Kentucky many years ago decided it would be a good idea to have one of these signs. I informed the Church Board that I would not be responsible for changing the message on the sign. One of the young men in the congregation volunteered for the job, but lived to regret that decision. It is very difficult to come up with a new meaningful or witty phrase on a regular basis. He began purchasing books and magazines in search of new material. Not to seem too critical, it was the general opinion that as time went by his postings became weaker and weaker. Finally he just posted the service times. It wasn't long before he moved out of town. Moving seemed a bit much… I would have accepted a simple resignation. With the message no longer changing regularly the church looked stagnant to the community unfamiliar with the workings of the church. Suddenly our wonderful sign became a problem and a negative factor to the image of the church.


Like church bulletins, church signs can and do often say unintentional things. Sometimes inappropriate things are posted. Such as:


Okay, so I think it’s funny. But it strikes me as more than just a bit inappropriate.



Then there are the ones that don’t end up saying what the person responsible for maintaining the sign intended.




A message meant for a few gets displayed for the public.




 
Perhaps you just want to tell it like it is. Or at lease how you see it.







 
This is a great public service announcement with a funny twist.






And there is nothing better than a good old misspelled word to make the church look bad (Or interesting.).






But worst of all are the “Welcome” signs that are anything but welcoming.




 
For years I passed a little country church that, I am sure, wondered why they were failing to grow. They were friendly people, had a nice building, a spacious parking lot, a ministry for children and, doubtlessly, preached the Gospel. Out by the road they had a very nice welcome sign that said:


Everyone Welcome


KING JAMES ONLY


The reality is, not everyone is welcome… only people who think like them. I know I didn’t feel welcome.


Some of the signs churches  put up say things to the unchurched we don’t intend to say. The church I serve has a small parking lot next to the building. One space is reserved for me (the Pastor) and one is reserved for a handicapped person. I have never understood reserving a parking place for the pastor. I am a almost always the first person to arrive Sunday mornings, so I don’t need a reserved space. My suggestion was that we put up signage at the entrances to the lot that says: Sunday – Reserved Parking for Guests and Handicapped. The regular church goes could park on the street and make room for convenient parking for guests.


Our church also hosts several voting precincts on Election Day. This year we drew quite a crowd. As is our custom, the ladies of the church prepared baked goods and offered them for sale to the voters that were waiting in line. That is what churches do. We have special events when we invite to community to our facilities and then attempt to sell them something – baked goods, chicken dinners, the junk from our attics, etc.


Is that the message we intend to give our communities… that we just see them as a source of income? Wouldn’t it be better if we changed our signs? Instead of having a Bake Sale, we prepare a few pots of coffee, set out our baked goods and hang a sign that says: Welcome. We are so happy to host you today. Feel free to help yourself to some fresh, homemade baked goods and coffee. Sounds more like the message I want the unchurched in my community to hear from my church. Perhaps they would be more inclined to join us in worship.


Bill McConnell is the Interim Minister at Norwood Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a Church Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership Coach. He is a frequent speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest book on church transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is available at Westbow Press.
He can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com. Connect with him on Facebook @ William T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon

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