Your church's face to the world...

This sign says, "The end of your search for a friendly church." There you have it. Y'all come in.

There's a church near where I live that has a sign with interchangeable letters. For the past six months, that sign has read, "Welcome Rivendell College." It is such a sad sign, reflecting little pride in what the church has to offer passersby.

Church signs can be welcoming and engaging, or downright unfriendly. The letters on many signs are too small to read from the street. An effective sign makes it easy for visitors to figure out when they need to show up.

My favorite church sign dates back to 2003. In the baseball playoffs, the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs were still in the running for the World Series. A church sign read, "Red Sox vs. Cubs. There is a God." I went to church there the very next Sunday.