The Internet is full of pictures of church marquee signs that showcase just how bad things can be when you’re not careful about what you put on your sign. Right now, somebody somewhere is probably plugging “funny church signs” into a search engine and laughing at the often failed attempts by churches to be funny, relevant, or catchy. Making a great church marquee sign is a key way of helping your church matter to the community around you. You don’t want to do away with outdoor church signs entirely, because the sign gives you a way to communicate something about who you are to outsiders. Signs for churches also give valuable information about when the church meets and what the church believes. A church marquee sign is even a great way to participate in the community. But if it is done wrongly, a church marquee sign can simply make you look like a laughingstock. This surely is not what you want, so read on for some tips on how to make your sign matter.

Communicated How You Serve

Instead of using your marquee sign to get into a fight with a church down the road, make an attempt at humor that may not be understood or might fall flat, or even alienate the people around you, why not use your church marquee to communicate something about how your church serves the community around it? How do you want to be a blessing? Do you have a food bank, and if you do can you use your church marquee to raise donations or awareness? Use the marquee to spread the word about creative ways that your church is involved and active in the community you live in.

Use It To Show You Care

The community around you cares deeply about certain issues. You know what they are because you live there. Don’t only ever use your sign to talk just about things that no one cares about. Instead, use your church marquee to talk about the issues people are most concerned with in a compassionate and relevant way. Some churches do this in a very uncaring way that pushes outsiders further away from the church. Instead, your church should speak to issues in a way that reflects the command of the apostle to “speak the truth in love.”

Get a New Sign

Churches are not run for profit, so it’s not a surprise that sometimes church facilities, buildings, and signs are the last thing on the agenda when it comes to spending. However, your sign is one of the first things that anyone sees about your church. Your sign is communicating every time a person looks at it, and 71% of people say they look at the messages they see on the roadside. 37% of people say that they look at outdoor signs every time or almost every time they pass one. If your church sign is dated, falling down, rotting through, or has half the light bulbs blown out, it’s time to invest in a new signage solution.

Communicate What You Value

You want to communicate about how you serve and about how you care when it comes to issues the community is involved in. But you also want people to think about the things that you care about. This means you need to effectively communicate what you’re talking about on Sundays. Post sermon titles, if they’ll make sense to other people. Be sure to keep things current. Nothing is a bigger turn-off than seeing a sign referencing a big event that took place a month ago and which nobody has bothered to change. Finally, whatever you do, avoid the horrible puns. Don’t be corny, silly, offensive, or obscure. Do be loving, kind, relevant, and clear.

Your church exists to serve God, each other, and the community around you. Your church marquee sign is a part of that service ad an important way of communicating. Make sure it’s saying the things that you want to say about who you are and what you care about. And whatever you do, double check your spelling.