I started a post yesterday discussing the “The 7 Deadly Sins” church plants make when launching their church and that will have a major impact on whether your guests will have a positive or negative experience with your church brand. The second sin that is usually committed and that is extremely frustrating to a visitor is bad or inadequate signage.

A church planting team that I was a part of visited a hip and well known church plant in Detroit, Michigan. We didn’t know the exact directions but we knew the general area and name of the school they were meeting in. As we almost passed the school, we noticed the 4’ x 10’ banner with the church name and information by the street. The problem was that is was poorly designed for a street banner. It was a kick-butt design when you got close to it, but from 50 feet away it was only camouflage. It didn’t stop there though. Once we entered the school (a big one too) we had to walk around the whole thing to find where the worship service was. There was no signage (at least that we SAW) to lead us to the right place. We were there for research but wondered how frustrated a visitor would have been to be in our shoes. Bad signage is a turn off!

A new church plant needs to think this through. How will the people you want to reach find their way to your worship service or ministry? I can’t give you all the in-depth details about great and effective signage in this post, but I can give you some essentials.

• Design: It’s tempting to create a slick and sexy banner that makes great eye-candy, but depending on the location it can work against you. I love using digital photos for design but if you are driving at 40 mph you aren’t going to see it and understand it on a street banner. Keep your layout simple. Remember the idea is not to sell your creativity but direct people to your church.

• Wording: Choose your words wisely and keep it short! I have seen street banners trying to communicate every piece of information about the church. Not only is this a waste of money – it won’t be read. Keep in mind who you are trying to reach, where they will view the sign or banner from, how fast they will be driving, etc. Just give them what they need to know NOW.

• Size Matters! If your text is too small for the application they won’t be able to read your words. Size your text accordingly for maximum readability.

• Placement: Where you place your signs and how many will make an impact. I recommend that you have at least two large signs/banners for the street, one large welcome banner for the main entrance, and plenty of signs for directing people to your worship area, children’s ministry, information area, etc. It’s better to over-do your signage than have people walking around like chickens with their heads cut off. And keep in mind if a person can come in from a place other than the main entrance.

I’ll wrap up this segment by saying that you and your team needs to place yourself in your visitor’s shoes. Don’t assume people will know or figure things out. Make finding your worship service and ministries as easy as possible – it will be appreciated.