Church Marketing Sucks

Most church signs are pretty lame. It’s easy to focus on the pun-filled slogans that get more clicks and groans. But what about a church sign that actually works?

The other day I was driving out of downtown Minneapolis, past a lot of construction and onto the freeway gridlock of rush hour. It was one of those hurry up so I can wait situations.

And then there on the side of the road, surrounded by construction equipment and just before the freeway entrance ramp was a church sign that said simply, “It is going to be OK.”

Yes. What a breath of fresh air. A simple message that wasn’t trying to be funny, wasn’t telling me I was going to hell, wasn’t emphasizing a dogmatic position that most passersby would miss. And—perhaps most importantly—it wasn’t trying to communicate too much. You simply can’t communicate the entirety of the gospel message as people drive by your church.

But you can give a little hope

Church Sign Story

The construction themed sign came from Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. And I’m not the only one who noticed.

The church has received calls and emails about the sign, and they’ve even seen people stop to take pictures in front of the sign.

Earlier this year the church decided to change up their approach to the slides on their sign. Before the change their sign mostly advertised the church’s major events. But Associate Pastor Nate Melcher wanted to offer something more.

“I asked myself a simple question: Do we want to be the church that looks busy, or do we want to be the church that offers hope?” says Nate.

Simple

So often everything about church marketing can seem complicated. There’s all this technology to figure out or there’s this massive strategy you need to put together. It can feel incredibly overwhelming.

But sometimes it’s pretty simple.

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