Messages on Church Signs: Sometimes Clever, Sometimes Contrived

Church signs, with messages clever or contrived, are used by many churches to grab the attention of passersby, with the intention of reeling them in for a closer look and listen.

"We always tried to choose something short and pithy, something that would catch people’s eye," said Pastor Scott McNees of . "And we had a few comments about it. I would see people drive by and slow way down so they could read the sign."

In the days of a "manual" church sign that was changed by hand, in Wentzville would put up different phrases each week.

"Now that we have an electronic scoreboard, only one person knows how to work it at this point," church pastor Jason Auringer said. "So we have not been putting the catchy, kind of humorous or thought-provoking messages up. But we hope to do that shortly."

Mark Ford, the pastor at in Wentzville, is not a fan of messages on church signs – for the most part.

"There can be a use of church signs that is fine, and I’ve seen some churches that put a simple Scripture verse out there. I think that can be powerful and useful," he said. "Unfortunately, most choose instead to put cheesy little, many times offensive, phrases and things that absolutely do more harm than good. It absolutely infuriates me. Because we’re all the same church. So the message that’s being put out there, I’m reading and thinking, ‘This does nothing but send people further away.’"

At a previous church he served, Auringer put up a message that said, "In need of a heart transplant." His intent was to get people thinking more with their emotional heart when it came to giving and caring about others. But some people misinterpreted the message.

"People were calling," he said, "Actually asking, ‘Can we assist? Who’s the person who needs the heart transplant?’"

His response was, "Well, actually, it’s the theme of my message. It’s a play on words," he said. "But it’s amazing that complete strangers would call just to find out what was going on."

First Assembly used to have weekly messages on their sign, but then the sign needed a transplant. The sign and the message board letters came down because they were about 40 years old and were in sorry shape.

"They just looked real tacky," McNees said. "So we just decided to table it. Maybe someday we’ll be able to re-do it. Sometimes it’s better to have nothing out there than to have something that looks bad."

In its heyday, the First Assembly sign had an important role. Messages would address people’s relationship with Christ and the church, examine moral issues like abortion, and recognize holidays from Christmas and Easter to the New Year, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day and others.

"We’d always have a special saying out there for those special days," McNees said. "All the rest of the Sundays of the year, we’d just have something to help people think about their soul, eternity, (or) the morally high ground statement, because we live in such an immoral world."

While many churches have meaningful messages on their signs, Ford objects to those who go in a different direction. Part of the issue he has with cheesy messages is they reflect poorly on all churches.

"Unfortunately, it affects my church," he said. "It affects ‘the church’ of Christ, when any church has a sign that says something like, ‘There’s no non-smoking section in Hell.’ What are people hoping to gain by this type of sign? I saw one recently that just topped all that I’ve ever seen. You’re not going to believe it actually said this. It said, ‘Your friends are God’s apology for your family.’ That’s exactly what it said. Now what in the world are they trying to say, that would be a positive message that would help anybody? For one thing, that’s not in the Bible. That (phrase) is nowhere in the Christian message. Why are you putting this on your sign? This is what someone knows about your church. This is what the world knows about your church."

Ford rarely sees the need for a message on a church sign.

"At times it’s not even that I necessarily disagree with the truth of it," he said. "But is this the first thing you want the world to know? Wouldn’t you rather they come in and experience some warmth and love before they experience the harsh truth?"

In general, Ford does not like using church signs as message boards to the world.

"I think a lot of harm is done by church signs," Ford said. "If it’s not vitriolic or that type of thing, then the other ones that drive me crazy are so cheesy and stupid that they make us look like a bunch of foolish idiots. So those bother me. It’s a pet peeve, obviously. I wanted to have a church sign and what I wanted to put on it is, ‘We hate church signs too.’ Maybe that speaks to a lot of people out there. Because I guarantee you, unchurched people hate these signs. And those are the ones I’d like to come to our church."

Larry Miller, the one person at Immanuel Lutheran who currently knows how to operate the electronic church sign, said the sign located on Highway N has brought in new members for the church, the Bible study group and the school. The message is short and to the point, like "Worship with us," followed by service days and times.

"I don’t use anything fancy," Miller said.

Auringer still sees a use for a well-considered message.

"Sometimes I like the quirky stuff," he said. "Jesus used what he called hyperbole. Strong – very strong. ‘If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.’ He didn’t literally mean that, but he was trying to get your attention. Sometimes I like to make statements that are sort of bold or whatever – some would call it obnoxious – just to try to get them to think a little bit."