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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