reprinted with permission from Outreach Magazine Jan/Feb 2004

What does your community know about

your church from its outdoor signs?

Visual identity is the first key to effective outreach.

By Rhonda Sholar

Steve Molin knows how to deliver a message. His audible sermons are delivered weekly to 400 worshippers at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minn., (oslcstillwater.org). But it's the non-verbal messages -- seen by some 8,000 motorists who pass by the church on any given day -- that have the town talking.

The 8-foot-wide, backlit, two-sided sign with moveable letters has taken on a larger-than-life prominence after being installed shortly after Molin's appointment to the church four years ago. Molin, dubbed the "Sign Guy" by the community, has displayed culturally current messages like "Now Serving Krispy Kreme Communion Wafers," "Happy Meal: $2.49; BMW: $55,995; God's Love: Priceless" and "Packer Fans, Counseling Available Here." He says three factors make for a noticeable message: humor, timing and cultural relevance.

As a result, Our Savior's Lutheran's sign has connected with the community of 16,000. Molin remembers Sam, a local resident who approached him one morning while he was changing the sign. The stranger -- a non-churchgoer, Molin learned -- had become a fan of the church's messages and wanted to see what the next innovative saying would be.

The following week the sign read: "A guy named Sam loves our sign." Sam reappeared, this time at Molin's office, with camera in hand and a hug for the wordsmith.

No Sam sighting so far at church, but Molin remains hopeful.

"Sometimes people have an expectation of what church signs are supposed to say, and it's usually a mini-sermon," he says.

"When the exterior of our church is culturally relevant, people say that must be an indication of what's going on inside as well."

THE COMMUNITY CONNECTION
One of the first keys to effective outreach to non-Christians is creating an identity for outreach. While the American Heritage Dictionary defines identity as "the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognized or known," the process of creating identity for your church involves prayerfully evaluating your church's unique purpose, target audience, resources and strategic community connection.

To their credit, many churches have taken this integral step in some way, whether it be in the form of a mission statement, strategic plan or other document. However, when it comes to visually translating that identity to their communities, many churches often falter.

Perhaps the most obvious tool for that message -- that connection -- is your church's outdoor signage, which begs the question: "What does your community know about your church by its signs?"

FIRST AND LAST IMPRESSIONS
An increasing number of churches have discovered the connection between their signs and the communities they serve.

According to Sign Biz, the world's largest chain of non-franchised computer-aided design business, outdoor advertising (the category church signs fall into) experienced a 273 percent growth rate between 1990 and 1999. It's clear that churches are also paying attention to the issue of signage as church sign companies, like Sarasota, Florida - based Stewart Signs, have reported record sales within the past two years.

"Relative to the overall ad industry recession, outdoor media continues to show resiliency, particularly on a local level, where the medium is strongly employed," says Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

The right permanent outdoor signage is one of the most effective and inexpensive promotional vehicles around. It's often the first and last impression your church leaves on visitors and motorists who drive past each day. Moreover, it's the only visual that identifies your church 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Bob Klinger, co-owner of Signs Plus in Sarasota, Florida, believes that signs installed on church premises are the best way to make an impression with potential visitors.

"People who drive by your church on a regular basis are more likely to visit than those you reach through radio or newspaper advertising but are beyond your driving distance," he asserts.

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SCIENCE OF THE SIGN
Outdoor signage can be defined as everything from architectural monuments and flexible-text marquees to standard logo signs and outdoor banners. But regardless of the type of signage, for churches hoping to attract visitors rather than annoy them, the K.I.S.S. ("Keep It Simple Stupid") advertising technique is a good rule of thumb:
• The fewer words the better.
• Use bold and clear lettering.
• Choose a readable color combination such as black on white.
• Avoid theological jargon.

The Logo:
Arguably the most important element on your sign is your church's name and/or logo. It's hard to overstate the importance of a good, updated logo. It offers a simple way your church can make a statement about itself, and can quickly communicate the feel and focus of your church.

Signs Size:
In terms of signs size, Klinger advises churches to consider the speed of the traffic (at normal speed and during school hours on the road adjacent to the sign:

• 35 mph or less - use 4-inch letters and a 4'x6' or 4'x8' cabinet.
• 40-55 mph - use 6-inch letters and a 4'x10' or 5'x10' cabinet.
• 55 mph or more - use 8-inch letters and a 6'x10' or 6'x12' cabinet.

Additional factors influencing size include how far the sign is from the road and zoning ordinances.

"In general, the maximum amount of time an advertiser has to communicate a message is seven seconds," says Verlyn Verbrugge, 19-year pastor of the Woodland Drive-In Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., (gospelcom.net/wdi/) and author of Your Church Sign: 1001 Attention-Getting Sayings (Zondervan). "But since drivers need to keep their eyes attuned to other traffic, for the majority of cars and time allotted is more likely between three and five seconds."

Rotation:
Another truism concerning outdoor advertising: Familiarity breeds indifference. The more often someone drives by a certain sign that remains the same, the less she sees or remembers it. Rotating signage keeps the recognition factor high.

"If 1,200 cars pass your church every day for a year with 1.6 riders in each, your sign will make 720,000 impressions in a year and more than 1 million during the lifespan of a typical 14- to 15-year-old sign," Signs Plus's Klinger says.

'WE'RE INTERESTED IN YOU'

When it comes to new trends in church signs, attention-getting electronic LED message centers that allow churches to quickly program their own messages are leading the way.

"Churches are getting proactive in reaching out to people who have never walked into church," says John Cooksey, architectural designer for Distinctive Signs in Louisville, Ky. "Signs are starting to follow suite with the high technology going on inside church walls."

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For churches that look for every channel available to be relevant to their communities, electronic message centers offer several benefits, including the ability to immediately respond and connect to their communities.

Christ United Methodist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., (Christplace.org) uses its 2-year-old electronic sign to advertise church functions, as well as community-based events, such as health screenings and divorce recover and grief support groups.

"That tells the community, 'We're interested in you,' " says Becky Hall, director of ministries for the church. "We are aware of people's issues not just within the four walls of the church."

The church also used its sign to show support following Sept. 11 and last year's Hurricane Isabel. When local military members were deployed to Iraq, the church scrolled the names on its sign. Passersby took pictures of their loved ones' names and mailed them to soldiers as encouragement.

Hall adds: "Why would a church want to do less than the local mall?"

The results have paid off for Christ United Methodist, a 2,800-member church, as several people have indicated on visitors' cards that they discovered the church from reading the sign.

In April, Greater Emanuel Apostolic Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio, (greateremanuel.org), installed its new high-definition sign with 32 shades of red as part of its $5 million renovation. During Easter last year, the church ran a 15- to 30-second movie about Christ and the Resurrection on the sign.

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"People stopped in the parking lot to watch the movie," says LaVelton Daniel, assistant pastor and business administrator of the 700-member church.

"Too many churches put strange messages on their signs, trying to use it as some sort of pulpit," he adds. "Signage should be targeted to the people you are trying to reach, not weird and alienating to them."

As technology continues to improve, the cost of electronic signs has decreased, says Tim Self, marketing director for Stewart Signs.

Two years ago, a small sign with 9-nch characters, a dot-matrix look and very  limited graphics would've cost $50,000. Today, new technology offers a smaller, but more legible sign, with greater text capabilities for $25,000.

Still, these message centers are relatively new and represent less than 10 percent of the overall church sign industry's revenue source. More traditional, changeable text signs, available for around $5,000, continue to dominate the market.

Other signage trends among churches, Klinger has seen an increase in sales from churches that want their sign to reflect a name or denomination change.

"Many churches are changing their names and requesting signs that are more descriptive of who they're trying to reach rather than simply the denomination they're associated with."

What will enter the mind of someone in your community when he or she passes your sign? In the business world, that's called "branding" - a term that describes an image or perception that pops into a consumer's head when a particular company's name is mentioned.

Hopefully, for your church, that brand or message to those who only know you by your outside signs will be: "We're here, and you matter to us."