Along the Road, a Multitude Of One-Sentence Sermons

Witty or Sage, Church Marquee Writings Are Flourishing

"The best vitamin for a Christian is B-1."

"God answers knee-mail."

"Don't let worries kill you, let the church help."

Motorists glance at them for just a moment, but ministers see church marquee messages as a great chance to attract people with a groaner of a pun or a thought-provoking phrase. Coming up with pithy messages has even sparked a cottage industry of sorts, inspiring a half-dozen books and lots of e-mail traffic.

Jack Frank, a member of Dormont United Methodist Church in suburban Pittsburgh, has been posting messages since his church bought a changeable sign to replace a bronze and copper one that had been stolen. A recent message: "When down in the mouth, remember Jonah. He came out all right."

Frank, who gets ideas from friends and through e-mails, tries to change the sign every couple of weeks. A woman who doesn't belong to the church sent him a letter thanking him for the messages.

"It's not unusual when you're changing a sign that people give you ideas," he said.

"My favorite is, 'The sign guy's on vacation. Come inside for the message.' I've used that a few times."

L. James Harvey of Grand Rapids, Mich., has published two books on marquee signs and sees them as a way to reach out to potential congregants. "I like to have churches envision that they have drive-by congregations," he said.

Harvey, who moved to Michigan in 2002 after living in Maryland for three decades, decided the messages were worth a book six years ago when the church he was attending, St. Paul's Moravian Church in Upper Marlboro, got a new sign. Finding no ready source of material, he began compiling his own list, culled from other church signs and the Bible.

"The sign became very successful in that it brought people into the church who had never been there," he said.

Although one goal is filling pews, Randy Friedman, pastor of North Chester Baptist Church in Chester, Pa., said that "we tried to put some sayings up there that will cause a person to think and ask some questions."

Mary Katherine Compton, a Goldsboro, N.C., native living in County Cork, Ireland, has written two books with her husband, David Compton. She's noticed an increasing number of signs during her visits to the United States.

Last year, J.M. Stewart Corp., a maker of church signs from Sarasota, Fla., had its best year ever and expects sales to be up again in 2004, said Tim Self, the marketing manager. A basic 4-by-8-foot church sign averages $4,000 to $5,000, but electronic signs, which are growing in popularity, are much more expensive. They start at about $20,000 and can cost four times that, Self said.