Recently, the Chicago Tribune ran a story called, "Catchiness is next to godliness on church signs". The news article explained the phenomenon of catchy church signs and explored the idea that churches with prominent signs have a drive-by ministry that often greatly exceeds the number of people sitting in the pews every week. However, maintaining the right balance between catchiness and godliness can also be challenging. To strike the right chord, keep these tips in mind.
1. Be True to Your Mission
Every church has a slightly different focus. Ideally, your mission should be reflected in the messages you display on your sign. For instance, one church may really enjoy the catchiness of this message: "Keep Using My Name in Vain, and I'll Make Rush Hour Longer -- God." But at the same time, another faith community may not feel comfortable putting words in God's mouth. Still another church may think this message is funny: "How Do We Make Holy Water? We Boil the Hell Out of It". Another church may not want to make such casual references to hell. Ultimately, you get to decide which messages best reflect your faith.
2. Consult with Your Church Board
To ensure your message reflects your church community in a positive light, you may want to run potential sign messages past your church board. Sometimes, one person may think a joke is funny and witty while another person finds it offensive. By running messages past a number of people, you help to ensure that you don't sacrifice godliness for catchiness.
3. Take Inspiration from Your Sermons
Your sermons can be a great launching point for your church sign messages. When you write a sermon, take some time to see if you can distill your thoughts into a short quip that you can put on your church sign. Alternatively, have church members submit sign ideas after listening to your sermon. That way, you get to leverage their creativity while also ensuring that you are sticking to your core beliefs.
4. Look for Ideas Online
The internet is full of inspiration for catchy church signs. If you're in a rut or just can't think of the right catchy and godly slogan, you may want to look for ideas online. Simply type a few ideas into your favorite church engine and see what comes up. Sometimes, looking at image results can give you even more ideas than just looking at lists of funny church sayings. Vary your search query to make sure that you get a lot of different results.
5. Go to Scripture
You don't necessarily have to make up witticisms to put on your church sign, and you can be pithy without being funny. Consider turning to the scripture to get messages for your church sign. The Bible has nearly a million words, and many of its verses are perfect for a church sign. Note that the exact number of words varies based on the translation and whether you have a Catholic or Protestant Bible, but the King James translation, for example, has 783,137 words.
6. Consider Carefully Before Posting
To achieve the right balance on your church sign, you may want to sit with your ideas for a few days before posting them. Something might seem like a great idea right away, but then, you may realize that the joke undermines your broader beliefs. When you wait a while between the idea and the execution, you help to avoid posting anything you really don't want to say.
7. Listen to Your Congregation
If anyone in your congregation approaches you about your church sign, make sure to listen. These people sit in your pews, fill your donation basket every week, and attend your events. If they have a concern or a compliment about your church sign messaging, you should make sure they are heard.
Ready to dive into the world of catchy and godly church signs? Then, contact us at Stewart Signs today. We customize signs for churches, civic groups, cities, schools, and other organizations.
