Time and time again, I speak to ‘pastors and leaders of churches across the country who loudly proclaim, “We don’t need a new church sign. Ours is fine the way it is.”  The next questions I ask them include:

“Are you preaching to a full house at each of your services on Sunday?” 

“Do you have the finances to build the ministries you envision for your church?’

“Do you have multiple services because you have such a large and thriving membership?”

Almost always, the answer is “No.”

Many church leaders assume that because they’ve been in existence for many years, people know who they are and where they are. “Someday” those people will walk right into their doors and join them.  But that’s not the way it works. 

You’ve got to have the ability to invite them into your congregation to join your service or your other activities. You have to have the ability to inform them of when you are gathering and what you’re doing.  You have to have a way to advertise who you are, where you are, and what you’re doing on a regular basis. People are looking for a place where they feel they belong. If you warmly invite them in, regardless of whether it’s a Sunday service or Bible study or fundraiser, they will come in to visit you.

A Tale of Two Churches
Willie and Regina Cross of Judah Ministries in Detroit, Michigan, were very concerned about the lack of growth of their church and feared they might have to close their doors if nothing was done to improve their attendance. They called Signs for Faith, a church sign company that sells to churches across the United States, to see if they could help. 

Pastor Cross purchased a Model 48 Proclaimer sign (4-feet high by 8-feet long) with three lines of changeable letter, or “marquee” space to place messages on the sign. 

“We placed invitations–not just times–on our sign,” Cross said. “We wanted people to know that they were welcome in our church and that we really wanted them to worship with us. The marquee portion of the sign was perfect for that. The identification part of the sign, where we have our church name and picture, really caught the eye of our community.”

After having the sign up for just over two months, Pastor Cross announced, “We have seen a 75% increase in membership in our congregation due to the sign. We just invited the people into our church with the sign’s messaging capability. They are accepting our invitation.”

Lincoln Memorial Church in Los Angeles, California, has been around for more than 100 years. They were experiencing change and some growth in the last decade, but not nearly the growth they wanted for their congregation.  hey also weren’t sure if a new church sign would be the solution to their growth problem, so they spoke to Signs for Faith to see what would best fit their church’s signage needs.

Vanessa Howard, the chair of the church board at Lincoln Memorial, decided on a Model 58 Proclaimer sign (5-feet high by 8-feet long with marquee message capability) to be placed in the front of the church. 

 “We decided to use the sign as an invitational as well and inspirational tool to speak to the community around us,” Howard said. “We’re in a very busy part of Los Angeles, so many people pass by the church on a daily basis.” 

In the first week the sign was up, they brought quite a few people off the street for a revival. 

“One specific instance sticks out in my mind the most though,” said Howard. “Just a couple of weeks ago, a visitor to our church acknowledged that the sign was the reason she came to the church. She lived in the neighborhood for years but had never visited our church. She went on to say that she looked forward to the spiritual messages each week. The lady has been attending our church over the past few weeks and has since brought her son.”

The two churches above are just two of many churches that discovered the power of having the right sign up in front of their church--one that is beautiful in design to capture the attention of the passing public, but more importantly, one that allows your church to inform, invite and inspire those people who pass by and live in the community. 

Tom Johnson is president of Signs for Faith, www.signsforfaith.com.