A Rant on Church Banners
So it’s been a crazy week. Mike is finishing up the semester and has something like a bazillion papers to write, so I haven’t had much time to sit down at the computer and write – much less mental energy or coherency to do so when I do have the time. So what you’re getting here is a rant – a stupid rant, I admit, but simply a rant about something that has been annoying me recently – megachurch banners. See I told you it was stupid. But seriously, the things are driving me nuts.
Before I go further, let me clarify. Church banners differ from the equally annoying church sign. While church signs have some pithy, inane, and often offensive saying meant to “witness” to the passing masses, church banners serve merely to advertise and get more butts through the door. And they generally only show up on megachurches because, let’s face it, they are the only ones with the budget to print up those things. The problem (beyond the whole churches advertising like this in general thing) is that what makes sense to the church in-crowd, is confusing and meaningless to the outside world.
A few examples -
The church I grew up at here recently advertised some sort of concert they were having in their brand new stadium with a banner on the side of their building. They are situated on prime real estate overlooking the intersection of two major highways. But from even the closest spot on those highways all I could see was the date and the faces of what I assume are two CCM artists. No clue who they were, what sort of event it was, or how to find out more. Serious advertising FAIL.
Another of Austin’s megachurches hangs banners for their sermon series or ministry programs. A few months ago I saw that they were advertising for a series called “(in)justice.” I was intrigued so I went to their website (Google search) to find out more and hit a wall. There was nothing on the website except for a reprint of the banner itself. In fact I could find very little that actually told me anything about the church at all on the website – but it was a slick website. The same church also recently advertised their men’s ministry, so for a number of weeks they had a huge banner in front of their church that read “Men’s Fraternity.” I thought it was rather fitting for a conservative Texas church, but they were obviously clueless as to what message they were sending about their church.
Then there is the kinda sorta emerging megachurch in town. Not that they really are emerging, but they have the veneer. Well they put up weekly banners for their sermons. This week the sign reads “Close Your Bible. Open Your Mind.” At first I thought that it was actually an interesting topic, then I went to their website. It apparently is a cute objection to faith that the church is addressing in their “Why Austin Doesn’t Believe” series. I won’t be there this Sunday, but I get the feeling that the sermon will be on why you shouldn’t close your Bible and believe it anyway and not on opening your mind to different perspectives.
Okay, some might say that these banners are serving their purpose since I am noticing them. But honestly, how effective are banners at drawing outsiders in? If they don’t explain much, or make any sense if you don’t go to the church, why waste resources on them? I mean, I get some entertainment getting annoyed by them each time I drive by, but really, what’s the point?
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
You forgot the megachurch here that rents a whole billboard to advertise their Christmas and Easter services, but then leaves it up looong after those holidays are past. That’s even tackier than leaving political signs in your yard after election day IMHO.
I’m with you. Those banners make no sense. And speaking of the church signs, I’ve never seen one that makes me want to go inside. Usually, it just gets me riled up because it’s either too cheesy or too easy to mock.
It can’t possibly be that hard to use some common sense and use the signs to reach the people you want to reach.
very O/T: When studying in Oz, I’d often pass by this road that had a church on one side with a little signboard in front and a had a pub on the opposite side of the road with a billboard on top of the building. And the two used to spoof each other’s signs all the time, it was a pretty well known thing. I liked the church’s little spoof on the sex ads.
Too funny. I tried to put names to each church above, but am only really certain about the last one. I don’t particularly get it either.
It may be a rant, but you’re dead-on about the whole “insider” language failure of those kinds of (b)ads. You wind up only attracting other *Christians* which gets back to sheep-swapping, not disciple-making.
I struggle with it, b/c I design banners for our church, but always only for community events–and I feel a bit cheap even for doing those, though they’re only for things for kids and never feature any ridiculous evangelistic slogan or bait and switch (”all your easter eggs are empty, just like the tomb! besides, you dind’t need that candy…”).
Somebody sent me a video once of someone fixing a church sign that said something to the effect of “we’re sorry for getting in the way of jesus”. It still feels a little cheap, but then maybe that’s just my highly-valued cynicism, but if the sentiment was/is sincere, it may be the only thing worth saying publicly.
My favorite was a banner one announcing “Awesome worship” — which seemed as theologically problematic as it was ineffective. Is our worship awesome, or is God? And are unchurched people driving around looking for awesome worship? What would that even mean to someone not indoctrinated into Christianese?
A confession:
About a month ago, I drove by that last church with my family and caught a glimpse of their sign that said “I evolved, you didn’t.” I U-turned and pulled into the church to try to understand what the sign was supposed to mean. It was as you said, a “cute objection to faith” that they were going to rebut.
We actually went to the service the next day, and, surprise, surprise, the sermon was about why we didn’t evolve.
So I guess that banner worked (at least on a sucker for creation/evolution talk)…
The weight of evidence is that people will visit our churches if and only if we personally invite them. And Andy Stanley’s research indicates that that ‘invite’ has to be for a specific service on a specific date with agreement to meet at a particular point in the building at a very specific time. Not, “You should drop by our church sometime…”
Take the banner money and hand it out to some homeless people downtown.
Hmmm, Ben. Talk about different perceptions. I also attended that one and the impression I had was that they had no problem with either the physics of the Big Bang or with evolution as the process of development of life. But then, I’ve endured young earth creationist language and talk for my fifteen years as someone more or less like a Christian, so almost anything is a breath of fresh.
My family and I don’t go to any church at all these days more than we do. It’s been more or less a gradual fatigue. But I do still drop in on that church (since we aren’t naming names) from time to time. I have to confess I didn’t notice the banner at all, so I guess it was wasted on me. I went there a while back when they hosted a conference really just so I could meet Scot McKnight in person and say hi. But I spoke to the senior pastor (or whatever his ‘title’ is) of that church (who also participated in the conference) while I was there and liked him. So I go from time to time.
Anyway, just thought I would mention that I heard something pretty different than you did that day. I wonder which of us heard something closer to what they were actually trying to communicate?
This isn’t what you’re talking about, but let me put in a hearty endorsement for signs/banners/something that announce service times, maybe a sermon title.
This is a way of saying “Come pray with us.” Churches that do not make that very basic information generally available to anyone who may be passing by are implicitly saying “Ummm … if you aren’t already part of us, or have some personal connection (such that you already know when we gather) why would you be interested in joining us?”
I am the sort that cannot quite imagine having a Sunday go by without church, and on my first in a new area have sometimes laced up my walking shoes and gone looking for whatever I might stumble across (this is in highly populated urban areas where I can be confident I’m not going to be wandering aimlessly for miles with no church in sight and tired feet). There are plenty of buildings that are very obviously “church” and I’m sure are doing something on Sunday morning but don’t make it easy for me to find out when. They get passed by.
Annoying, chintzy, offensive church signs — bad. Church signs in general — very very good!
two thoughts:
1. my favorite church marquee from back behind the pine curtain in east texas: “jesus is lord. bow or burn.” (i know we’re not talking about marquees, but it’s such a classic.)
2. we were nearly-seriously considering getting one of those tall plastic things that looks like it has a head and hair and limbs, and then when a fan blows into it, it looks like it’s standing around dancing and flapping its arms —– we thought about taking one, painting it to look like jesus, put it on the top of the journey warehouse, and just let it fly. all the time. lights on it at night.
so that way, the people on the mopac/360/183 flyovers could just enjoy a dancing plastic jesus over there in the warehouses as they’re driving.
i don’t think that’s the same thing as what you’re talking about, though. i mean, the point wasn’t to put the address or name or sermon series of our faith community on it.
wait – that gives me an idea ………. not.
I dunno Rick, the dancing plastic jesus could at least be entertaining…
I agree that a lot of churches are clueless when it comes to the message they are sending with banners and signs.
Their messages should make a person feel welcome and not like they have to learn the language in order to fit in.
Jesus Himself said that He came to preach the “acceptable” year of the Lord. They should follow His example and try to be accepting.
On the design of the banner, that’s what I do for a living. It is very frustrating when a customer insists on a cheezy design that will be very difficult to read. They usually want so much stuff on it that it looks like graffiti rather than a sign. I try to tell them they have about 3-5 seconds to get the message across to traffic and if it is difficult to read or the message is unclear, it won’t get read at all.
So, there is the “message” as in would I feel welcome. And, there is the message as in, can I read what are you trying to say.
Perhaps what our signs really say is “Come and hear an odd bunch talk about stuff that matters to them.”
Or maybe “WE TALK – YOU SHUT UP – SUNDAY!”
Or maybe “WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT OUR STUFF! COME LISTEN TO US TALK AT YOU ABOUT OUR STUFF! YOU KNOW WHEN AND WHERE, BECAUSE YOU’RE A SECRET ADMIRER OF OUR STUFF.”
Reminds me of Bob the Tomato, who says, “Hi, I’m a tomato, and I’m here to help you!”
only the true pure gospel can and will help. Banners – nothing; music – nothing; only the gospel.
This is a lame post… for real, get a LIFE!