And now a curmudgeonly comment on church sign “ministry”

A good friend who is on staff of a church recently uttered a phrase I had never heard before–“sign ministry.”  At first I thought he was referring to “signing” for hearing impaired members of the congregation.  But he was referring to using the church sign/marquee to send messages to the community.

For some reason I pay far too much attention to the cute little sayings on church signs.  I wish I could avoid that and somehow just ignore them.  MOST of them (with some exceptions, of course) reek of folk religion.  Some of them express truth but in such a simplistic, cutsey manner it just makes me want to retch.  For example: “One week without prayer makes on weak.”  I still see that one from time to time.  It’s as old as the hills already.

Let me suggest something truly worth thinking about to put out on your church’s sign/marquee.  It’s a quote from one of my favorite theologians, Reinhold Niebuhr: “There is no greater pathos in the history of man than the cruelty of righteous people.”  Why not?  It would certainly get attention and send a message many “religious” people need to consider.

I think churches need to STOP allowing the church secretary (or whoever) to choose the message for the church sign.  What goes up on the church sign/marquee should be given serious thought and it should be thought-provoking, inspiring, convicting and profound.  Most such saying are so shallow as to be laughable.  (I think my least favorite is the all-too-common “Sign broken; message inside.”  Who ever thought up that should be given forty lashes with a wet noodle as Ann Landers used to say!)

Let me invite you to suggest the worst saying you’ve seen on a church sign and/or a saying you think it would be refreshing to see there.

P.S. It’s not only CHURCH signs/marquees that sometimes drive me nuts.  Not long ago I was driving through a small Texas town and the marquee in front of the city museum (right on the main highway through the center of town) said “Public lecture on how the calvary fought the Indians in the Old West.”  Calvary?