Thought-Provoking Church Marquees: Volume 1

Many of you know that I am not a big fan of church marquees that display short, pithy statements out in front of church property.

There is one that I saw the other day that caught me attention and really made me think.
The sign said, "We love visitors."
I've seen this on many churches before - and there is nothing inherently wrong with saying that - but it struck me, really stirred some thoughts.
Here's why.

First off, I wondered about its effectiveness. If anyone was curious about checking out a church would they come to church based on what they read on the sign? Maybe...maybe not. I'd love to know. I'd love to talk to someone who had little or no church experience but one day they saw a church marquee stating that that particular church loved visitors and were compelled to attend. Didn't most of us begin attending church because a family member or friend invited us or came with us? 

Second, I wondered to myself as I drove, If I have to tell someone that I love visitors, do I really? Wouldn't people know that I love visitors just by the way I interact with others? It's like when you are sitting at lunch with a friend and they are fidgeting and doing everything except looking at and listening to you. And so they say, "Oh, I'm listening" but deep down you know that they probably aren't. If they have to tell you that they are listening, are they? Don't you show others that you are listening to them by what you do with your eyes and your ears and your body language? And don't we love visitors by how we treat them during the week, rather than what we put on a sign out front?

My goal isn't to be critical and/or cynical of churches and their signs, but I do believe that we need to be extremely careful and intentional with the types of messages we think we are sending - as well as the messages we are actually sending. We have to consider the messages we are sending to an unbelieving world and if they are effective in communicating the message of the way of Jesus and his rhythms. For every one person driving down the road who may be encouraged or blessed by our church marquees, there could be several others - without even knowing it - who are turned off or confused by our messages.

Comments

[Stan]

I do not know if someone may show up to your church because they think it is now open enrollment time because they saw a sign, but something caught me as I was reading your second point.
“Don’t people know that you are listening or inviting by the way you act and respond?” So I am thinking, do not others, (your family, friends and loved ones) know that you love them by the way you act and interact?, but surely that is no substitute or an excuse for not saying it too. Who doesn’t want to hear, “I Love you”. So then don’t people want to be invited, and should we not be intentional enough to make sure they know they are welcome and make them feel welcome.
I am not supporting the excuse for a lame sign, but surely being the nice guy in the neighborhood isn’t going to fill a bus full of neighbors joining you for church service on Sunday.

[Tom]

I saw a church sign last Sunday that left me sick to my stomach. It said, "Stop, drop, and roll doesn't work in Hell." I kid you not. That's what it said. It was the first time I ever felt like physically tearing a sign down because it was so offensive.

[Dave Barry]

Loving visitors is easy - truly welcoming them into the community and continuing to love them is the hard part.

After all, you never hear of a church splitting or falling apart because they love visitors, rather because they weren't able to love one another as brothers and sisters united in community as the body of Christ.

[JP]

I also don't want to sound cynical but what if the church is using the sign mainly for its parishioners. As sort of a mission statement. To remind people that they should be loving towards visitors. It seems that its not much different from any daily cue that we use to keep our focus in the right direction. And its probably more effective than a billboard stating abstract terms like “Relational.”
As for the actual visitors reading the sign, it is innocuous and like you said “there is nothing inherently wrong with saying that.” I agree with Stan’s comment. People love to hear affirming words on top of actions.

[bekah]

the church near cole and richie's had a sign that we saw last night that said " "CH_ _CH" What's missing? "UR" "
:)

[J.R.]

JP,

thanks for your thoughts.
If it's just for parishioners then I would suggest printing it in the bulletin or reminding church people up front from the pulpit. Without context, it could get lost in translation.

For future reference, I would love it if you would be willing to list your real email address. I'd love to dialog more about this if you are willing. I think it would be fruitful and beneficial.

Thanks.

[JP]

Sorry about that, typepad required my email address, but maybe I typed it incorrectly. I don't have a typepad account so that could be the problem.
You are right about the context. I read your effectiveness argument and thought that it all depends on the goal of the message. Maybe it is effective at something.

[Stan]

Concerning intent and interpretation of the message we are sending and how it is received, I agree that actions speak louder than words when we are portraying a hypocritical image,( ie. Preaching the Word and acting otherwise) , but too I think we need to be careful in tempering what we are saying. I listened to a lesson on evangelism recently, where the speaker commented on watching your language and explained not to be too overbearing and make your words to be acceptable to the listener. Ok, I get that in a way, and I get that a marquee that said “Repent or go To Hell” may be a little rough, and trying to be profound to a young child would be fruitless, but in John 7, Jesus did not mix His words at the cost of dispersing almost His entire following, so then where is this line in the sand ? Was the person that was offended at your church marquee that said “we love visitors”, coming to your church anyway, regardless of what the message may have said?

[Tom Smith]

Great thoughts JR,

I would even back up further and like to ponder the effect of advertising on churches? Should we engage in advertising? What forms are helpful? One of the big churches here in SA had a sign up that said "Sinner welcome at our Sunday services" - I thought to myself "what the heck". Another point to ponder is how these marquees usually serve as an advertisment for a Sunday service ...

[J.R.]

Tom,

You're right. Marquees can be very "amissional" in purpose.