What’s missing?

Church sign

Originally uploaded by danmccredden.

I have been meaning to post this up for a while because I totally love it. As seen at an unnamed church on the Mornington Peninsula opposite a large supermarket parking lot (just where the most people can see it).

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 19th, 2006 at 4:54 pm by dan and is filed under challenges for the church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

26 Responses to “What’s missing?”

1. 1
   Joseph Joseph Says:
   August 19th, 2006 at 5:25 pm

   That is great!

2. 2
   Liam Says:
   August 19th, 2006 at 5:47 pm

   Sale Baptist Church used to use the exact same slogan on their church noticeboard, which is on the highway through Sale, directly opposite KFC.

3. 3
   Eric Says:
   August 19th, 2006 at 8:56 pm

   I’ve seen that one quite a few times. Lots of churches that have signs with the set of letters have used it at some stage.

4. 4
   stu Says:
   August 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm

   two ‘e’s and a chong? really?

   

5. 5
   Joseph Joseph Says:
   August 20th, 2006 at 3:26 pm

   stu said: “two ‘e’s and a chong? really?”

   I’ll be honest, “Cheech” was actually the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the pic.

6. 6
   brissiegirl Says:
   August 20th, 2006 at 7:24 pm

   What’s missing? Relevance.

   This is not the way to ‘preach’ or reach a group missing from church.

   It’s trite and corny. It shows no understanding of what’s happening in people’s lives. Get off your bum and go where the people are…they are not in UR church for a reason.

7. 7
   stu Says:
   August 20th, 2006 at 7:42 pm

   thanks joseph joseph…i felt it was a risky comment of mine. whew

8. 8
   abtruth Says:
   August 21st, 2006 at 7:28 am

   i agree brissigirl..

   if the sign is opposite a supermarket i could think of a few that would be more appropriate…

   “there is more to life than shopping you know”

   “true meaning in life is not found in your wallet”

   “come to me you poor and brokenhearted”

   “Lord, please forgive our overindulgence”

9. 9
   akevin Says:
   August 21st, 2006 at 8:04 am

   Ciche’s R us -

   Church and chong just doesn’t sound…. holy!

10. 10
    Janet Says:
    August 21st, 2006 at 5:32 pm

    Please… no church signs at all. They are all so cringeworthy. Does anyone know of anyone… anywhere… who has come to church and found faith because of a church sign? I seriously doubt it. Uggh.

11. 11
    oygle Says:
    August 21st, 2006 at 7:41 pm

    Maybe Jesus Has left the Building ?

    CHRIST-FOLLOWERS
    EVERYWHERE ARE LEAVING THE CHURCH

    WHERE IS JESUS TAKING THEM?
    When you
    sit in church on Sunday, do you ever get the feeling that something is
    missing? Do you long for a deeply genuine connection with God and other
    believers but often walk away empty and unsatisfied? You are not alone.
    Many church-goers are stumbling onto a path that leads out to the other
    side of the stained-glass window. They are finding God there and
    discovering a powerful truth - we are the church!
    As a
    journey guide, this book delivers compelling answers to some difficult
    questions:

    What was
    Jesus’
    original church like?
    How is God reshaping
    Christianity
    today?
    Has God left the
    building before?
    Do I have to leave the
    building too?

12. 12
    akevin Says:
    August 21st, 2006 at 9:13 pm

    One of my favorite sayings on a church board (from a UPC) church.

    “animals are content with what God gave them”

    Upon reading this from the cliche board in fronnt of the church, people were stopping along the road to repent.

13. 13
    oygle Says:
    August 21st, 2006 at 10:03 pm

    Talking about sayings, saw a good ’signature’ in a post recently ..

    “God doesn’t beleive in atheists”

14. 14
    akevin Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 12:14 am

    Another on from the same UPC church -

    If it weren’t for Jesus, we would not have had pentecost”

    They should have put question marks after it - becasue no one could figure out where that came from.

15. 15
    Greg the explorer Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 11:35 am

    Church signs allow the people who feel they ought to do some evangelsim to feel as thought they ahve done their bit - the signs aren’t for the peopoe who read them, they’re there to make the people who put them up feel better about their lack of connectedness with their community!

    Pull em all down and burn em…the signs too

16. 16
    blestpickle Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 11:54 am

    Pull the people down and burn them?
    Nah. that’s a bit harsh — just do it to the signs.
    The local uniting church in our suburb (just near the shops) has one of those cheesy signboards up, I cringe every time I go past. I don’t want to be a testimony to the God of the one sentence witticism and the quick fix — I can’t, because I don’t know Him, and most people who have really lived beyond the stage of adolescent fantasy have no interest in a God like that anyway. they know life is bigger and more complicated than that — they need a God who is big enough to cope with the mess of real life….

17. 17
    dan Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 11:56 am

    I once preached at a church and used church signs as an example of a bad way of pretending that we are being relevant. At the end of the service, not ten minutes after I had finished speaking, the minister was asking for suggestions of witty phrases to put on their church sign. Sigh.

18. 18
    blestpickle Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    Ouch! that must have been a real “was I only talking to myself?” moment!

19. 19
    dan Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 1:24 pm

    Well I am obviously not a great communicator.

20. 20
    Greg the explorer Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 1:25 pm

    people just don’t get it!

21. 21
    Greg the explorer Says:
    August 22nd, 2006 at 1:36 pm

    I think you’re a great communicator Dan

    http://www.theeel.com/~feyeel/personal/GSG/75_2.jpg

22. 22
    abtruth Says:
    August 23rd, 2006 at 10:45 pm

    did you say something dan?

23. 23
    dan Says:
    August 24th, 2006 at 8:53 am

    No, but I did thank god for a great illustration of missing the point for future gigs.

24. 24
    abtruth Says:
    August 24th, 2006 at 11:32 am

    i was actually being facetious re you not being a good communicator and was pretending i didn’t hear you….. i am obviously not a good joke teller….. yet again i try to be funny and end up having to explain my jokes

25. 25
    dan Says:
    August 24th, 2006 at 11:48 am

    Ohh, heh. Don’t you hate it when you totally miss the joke? Never happened to you? Ok, I’ll just sit over here, then.

26. 26
    Joseph Joseph Says:
    October 20th, 2006 at 7:12 pm

    I think NCCC should print this out big and put it on a billboard outside the ministry centre:

    http://www.marriedtothesea.com/102006/COME-TO-CHURCH.gif

    It’d work for me.