Posted on 07/27/2007 9:54:17 AM PDT by xzins
While more churches adopt large projection screens and multimedia technology to draw new believers and the unchurched, one church communications specialist points back to the traditional church signs that stand outside sanctuaries for more effective outreach.
Related To Hell and Back "It may sound like a line from the 70s, but people will ask, 'What's your sign?' A sign should be a primary ministry touch-point that encourages people to visit your church," said Woody Murray, who has worked for 30 years in communications and marketing in advertising agencies and at a major Christian organization.
Bottom line is either get a church message sign if you don't have one or keep your current one fresh and updated, and maybe even assign someone to make church signs their ministry, Murray suggested.
Why the emphasis on marquees?
"Your best prospects probably live close to the church," said Murray. "They very likely pass by it every day. They're on the way to and from work, going to the grocery store, or running other errands. Many of these folks probably go by your church more than once a day."
And a marquee message as simple as "Join us this Sunday for Worship 11 AM" can help draw those passer-bys.
"People respond to invitations," Murray stressed. "Make your message an invitation as often as possible."
Whether the sign has to be changed by hand or electronically, Murray recommends changing the message frequently to catch the eye of prospects, especially if there are special services and events happening at the church.
Earlier this year, more churches across the nation used their church signs to advertise their big-screen Super Bowl gatherings to attract crowds that may otherwise huddle at bars or places inappropriate for children to watch the big game.
When it comes to clever messages, however, Murray offers caution.
"I feel a little uncomfortable saying this, but be cautious in how you use Scripture on your sign," he noted, warning against churches that opt to choose "fire and brimstone" messages with the intention of frightening people into coming to church.
Such message signs run a greater risk of turning off people to your church, he said.
As Joel Bezaire, an attendant of West End Community Church who runs the website CrummyChurchSigns.com, stated, "Today's culture doesn't take the idea of hell seriously at all. Churches who make jokes about it on their sign only make it worse. Example: 'Stop, drop, and roll doesn't work in hell!'"
Another piece of advice Murray gave is: "Think twice about humorous signs, too."
"The world already thinks the church is out of touch with our culture’s realities," said Bezaire. "How exactly are lame jokes helping change that idea? A good rule of thumb is that if you have to question whether a joke is funny or not – it isn't."
Also, be brief, said Murray.
"People can't read a long message in the second or two it takes to pass the church," he noted. "Put too many words on your sign, and folks won't even take a look."
The rule of thumb is seven to 10 words.
Some ideas Bezaire suggests for church signs include service times, news of how the church is working in and with the community, general church news, upcoming sermon titles, or Bible verses that make sense on their own.
You’re so kind that I feel sort of awful about the lawyer joke at 33...
(Well, maybe not :>)
Upload? How does one do this upload thing? (freepmail?)
Sign over the Stomach Remedies shelf in the drug store:
“Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a
laxative on the same night.”
Snow White received a camera as a gift. She happily took many pictures of the Dwarves and their surroundings. When she finished her first batch, she took the film to be developed. After a week or so, she went to get the finished photos. The clerk said the photos were not back from the processor. Snow White was so disappointed that she started to cry.
The clerk, trying to console her, said kindly, “Don’t worry, someday your prints will come.”
Glad I good participate. You can have some real fun at that church sign website.
See #8 & #38 this thread.
The turkeys at that site have booby-trapped their pics. If you delete all your temp internet files/cookies, then you’ll see some little dude shaking his finger at you.
A Woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods. She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap. The frog said to her, “If you release me from this trap, I will grant you three wishes.”
The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, “Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes. Whatever you wish for, your husband will get times ten!”
The woman said, “That’s okay.”
For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world. The frog warned her, “You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock
to”.
The woman replied, “That’s okay, because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will have eyes only for me.”
So, KAZAM -she’s the most beautiful Woman in the world!
For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world. The frog said, “That will make your husband the richest man in the world. And he will be ten times richer than you.”
The woman said, “That’s okay, because what’s mine is his and what’s his is mine.”
So, KAZAM-she’s the richest woman in the world!
The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, “I’d like a mild heart attack.”
Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don’t mess with them.
Attention female readers : This is the end of the joke for you. Stop here and continue feeling good.
Male readers : Please scroll down.
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The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife.
Moral of the story: Women think they’re smart. Let them continue to think that way and just enjoy the show.
PS: If you are a woman and are still reading this; it only goes to show that women never listen!!!
Adam was hanging around the garden of Eden feeling very lonely.
So, God asked him, “What’s wrong with you?”
Adam said he didn’t have anyone to talk to.
God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman. He said, “This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for you, and when you discover clothing, she will wash it for you. She will always agree with every decision you make and she will not nag you, and she will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you’ve had a disagreement. She will praise you!
“She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will NEVER have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it.”
Adam asked God, “What will a woman like this cost?”
God replied, “An arm and a leg.”
Then! Adam asked, “What can I get for a rib?”
Of course the rest is history...................
Meeting of the Board
There will be a meeting of the Board immediately after the service,” announced the pastor.
After the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the auditorium for the announced meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst — a visitor who had never attended their church before.
“My friend,” said the pastor, “Didn’t you understand that this is a meeting of the Board?”
“Yes,” said the visitor, “and after today’s sermon, I suppose I’m just about as bored as anyone else who came to this meeting
Subject: Rules of Engagement
Marine Corps Rules:
1. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
2. Decide to be aggressive enough, quickly enough.
3. Have a plan.
4. Have a back-up plan, because the first one probably won’t work.
5. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
6. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with a “4.”
7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.
8. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral & diagonal preferred.)
9. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
10. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
13. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating your intention to shoot...
Navy SEAL’s Rules:
1. Look very cool in sunglasses.
2. Kill every living thing within view.
3. Adjust speedo.
4. Check hair in mirror.
US Army Rangers Rules:
1. Walk in 50 miles wearing 75 pound rucksack while starving.
2. Locate individuals requiring killing.
3. Request permission via radio from “Higher” to perform killing.
4. Curse bitterly when mission is aborted.
5. Walk out 50 miles wearing a 75 pound rucksack while starving.
US Army Rules:
1. Curse bitterly when receiving operational order.
2. Make sure there is extra ammo and extra coffee.
3. Curse bitterly.
4. Curse bitterly
5. Do not listen to 2nd LT’s. It can get you killed.
6. Curse bitterly
US Air Force Rules:
1. Have a cocktail.
2. Adjust temperature on air-conditioner.
3. See what’s on HBO.
4. Ask “What is a gunfight?”
5. Request more funding from Congress with a “killer” Power Point presentation.
6. Wine & dine ‘key’ Congressmen, invite DOD & defense industry executives.
7. Receive funding, set up new command and assemble assets.
8. Declare the assets “strategic” and never deploy them operationally.
9. Hurry to make 13:45 tee-time.
10. Make sure the base is as far as possible from the conflict but close enough to have tax exemption.
US Navy Rules:
1. Go to Sea.
2. Drink Coffee.
3. Deploy Marines
Weren’t you doing engineer jokes with someone the other day?
Handy Engineering Conversions for Non-Engineers
Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton
One millionth of a bottle of mouthwash: 1 microscope
The elapsed time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 bananosecond
The weight an evangelist carries with God: 1 billigram
The amount of time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour: Knot-furlong
365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it’s less filling: 1 lite year
16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone: 1 Rod Serling
Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon
1000 aches: 1 kilohurtz
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower
453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake
1 million microphones: 1 megaphone
1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles
10 cards: 1 decacards
1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 Fig Newton
1000 cubic centimeters of wet socks: 1 literhosen
1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfiche
1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin
10 rations: 1 decoration
100 rations: 1 C-ration
2 monograms: 1 diagram
8 nickels: 2 paradigms
3 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 IV. League
1 Love Bite 1 GiggleByte
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