Once you have people actually on your campus, your next job is to keep them there. What we’ll call “secondary signs” do that. Signs that show people where to park, how to get in the building, whether or not you have a shuttle and/or multiple buildings, where they can take their children, what events are going on, maybe a sermon series that’s coming up… you know, the nuts and bolts of what you actually do.

Some churches are larger than others so the needs here can vary dramatically. Some churches with sprawling campuses have much more acute needs. Other churches might be chucking and wonder where they’d even put a secondary sign. But whatever your situation, there are ways that secondary signs can help.

Here are a couple things to keep in mind when creating and placing your secondary signs:

• They can be more flexible. Where your primary sign is meant to endure, secondary signs can be less permanent. If you’ve got an event coming up in the fall, a banner announcing it might only need to last a month or two. You still want it to be durable (think vinyl or something comparable, strong enough to survive a decent storm), but it doesn’t have to be immoveable. This usually means less expensive, but also maybe some physical labor to put it up.
• They can be creative. While your primary sign might be fairly static and uniform in appearance, your secondary signs can play with fonts, colors, graphics and language. Sermon titles, this year’s Vacation Bible School, the newest ministry you’re starting, etc., might be begging for a more exciting presentation. Could you announce your shuttle via “Shuttle Express”—an actual station with bright colors and a fun bus for kids—versus just posting “Shuttle” with an arrow pointing to it?
• They can be people! What’s easier and more fun to follow? A metal square on a pole advertising “Visitor Parking,” or a friendly guy/girl wearing a smile and bright orange traffic vest, directing you to a surefire place to park? People are the picture of what goes on in the life of your church.
• They can be electronic. Clearly we’re no strangers to screens these days. Using electronic signs, though expensive, can minimize work and maximize impact. Just type in what you want to advertise, and presto! Instant attraction.
• They can be simple. Sometimes something simple like paper bags with candles can set the right ambiance. Or you could do something fun like small sticks with short phrases, Burma-Shave style. Or set the kids loose with sidewalk chalk.
• Use your surroundings. If you’ve got tall light poles in your parking lot, consider running some vertical banners down the poles that announce events or a sermon series. If there’s a primary walkway to your main entrance, you could use signs along the way to address common questions or promote events. You could use a sign at the exit to offer a benediction as people leave.
• Size, visibility, and clarity still matter. Same as with your primary sign, you want to minimize confusion. This means you want your secondary signs to be big-but-not-too-big, use clear, easy-to-read fonts, and be in places where people will actually see them. You also want to provide only the most important and necessary information. Do you want to note the time for an event or send them to your website? Are you providing direction or inspiration? In essence, what do you want people to know before they walk in your doors?

Your church’s secondary signs can be a fun expression of your congregation’s every day life and the ways God is at work in it. How can you show yourself off?

But even with all those words on the cover, I was skeptical. Jon’s a youngish guy and pretty well known as a satirist. (No that’s not a typo for Satanist, although some who’ve been ridiculed by his web series and book, Stuff Christians Like, might not agree)

There are so many self-help books out there. We don’t need pep-talks, and people in your church don’t need more pats on the back. Are we tracking?

But there are two solid takeaways that make Start worth checking out:

For You
This book delivers in that Jon’s perspective of life is fresh, raw and, surprisingly, counter to all the “you can do it” messages out there. Here’s an example:

One of the worst things you can do is trying to find your purpose in life. Nothing cripples you like trying to “find your purpose,” or “figure out your dream,” or “name your passion.”

Huh?  I though life was all about purpose? Acuff turns the typical message on its head in order to help us actually accomplish something.

There are more stacks of meaty ideas and practical challenges. The writing is fun and very well done (something I did expect).

For Your Church
Like you and I, churches are living organisms, and these organisms love to whiteboard about purpose, vision and ideas, right? We don’t need more meetings—we need to change our mindsets about “doing stuff” and start.

This book is a must-read for change agents inside church offices, but would also make a great team study, applying the same insights to focusing all our programs and initiatives. It will also challenge individual team members to focus on what they bring to the table at your church.

For groups with healthy dynamics, this book would make an ambitious, but rewarding small-group study as well.

Start
Buying this book is a no-brainer. It will sharpen your outlook personally, and spill over into your ministry work—as far as you want to take it.

More:

• Check out our 2010 interview with Jon Acuff.
• Buy a copy of Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters.

Born and raised a pastor’s kid in the Lutheran church, David handles communication for his congregation as well as pitching in for the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod. He helps other pastors with digital media, teaches workshops and participates in the weekly Church Social Media chats (#chsocm) on Twitter. That’s where you can follow David: @rev_david.

What’s the one thing you wish you had known when you were getting started in church communication?

David Hansen: Anything at all about digital tools. When I started seminary, one or two people used high-tech Palm Pilots. About a third of the class used a laptop during classes. No one was teaching about using digital tools to build community.

By the time I was done with seminary, social media were becoming more and more a part of the life of our culture. And still, not one mention in the seminary. I wish, as I got started, that I had more preparation in how to be a communicator.

How do you deal with congregations that are stuck in a ‘That’s how we’ve always done it,’ mindset and are resistant to trying new things?

David: As a best practice, you lead by example. People have to be shown the benefits of something, shown that it works. This is especially true with new technology and communications mediums.

So as a pastor, I try to get out there and say, “Look, this is what the congregation could be doing. This is what you could be doing. These are the people that we could be reaching together. Let me show you how it works.”

But at some level, communication is not a choice. We are called to proclaim. Period. That means that every congregation and every member of a congregation is called to spread the message that we have been given as far and wide as possible—we are witness to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. We have an obligation to use any and every means to do that.

I just don’t think that is something you vote on as a congregation or something you debate. Does anyone want to take up the “we shouldn’t share the gospel” side of the argument? Does anyone really want to cast a ‘no’ vote on the great commission?

What was your first great success as a church communicator? What made it work so well?

David: When I came to this congregation, I had this a-ha moment: I could take the things I did to connect with other people, and use it to build connections within the congregation and the community. And I just did. I started using my social networks for my ministry, I built a blog for the congregation, I used email to share news.

I believe that it worked so well because it was organic. It wasn’t a gimmick.

We weren’t doing the latest thing in order to do the latest thing. We didn’t have a social media presence because everyone said that is what churches were supposed to do now. Our online ministry was just a natural extension of our face-to-face ministry. It was real, organic conversation—which just happened to take place online. And people responded well to that authenticity.

What was your first great failure? What lessons did you learn?

David: I have, more than once, written or said something in my church communications that have caused pain for other people. Things that I said with the best of intentions that wound up being heard as hurtful or unkind. For someone who is deeply compassionate about other people, that was hard.

The lesson for me was this: Think about how your words can be misunderstood, because they inevitably will be.

Once the words leave my keyboard, I have no control over how people will look at them. And so now I do everything that I can to limit misunderstanding before I hit “send.”

How can you make progress when you have little or no budget?

David: That’s the beauty of social media!

With a budget of $0, you can set up an email campaign, establish a presence on the major social media sites, even have a place-holder website.

This year—seven years into my ministry here—is the first year that we have begun investing budget into the digital side of our communications program.

How are things different with a rural congregation?

David: A rural setting provides so many different challenges and opportunities than other settings. When I arrived here in 2006, the church was one of the few places that had an Internet connection that was faster than dial-up (although not by much). Seven years later, the number of people with connections is getting better—but cable connections and DSL still are not available in this area. Mobile technology has done a lot to level this out, but we still have to consider the large percentage of our population who is not online at all.

Rural communities also tend to be older than suburban or urban settings. We aren’t exactly known as the “early adopters” of technology. One can’t make the same assumptions about technology usage in this setting that one could make serving a church down the road in suburban Houston.

On the other side of the coin, because we are so spread out and sometimes even isolated, people in rural settings are often looking for ways to connect. If the church can provide the tools to help people connect to one another, people will use them.

In rural America, we love our communities. We know our neighbors—even if neighbor means five miles down the road. And we want ways to gather together and share our lives.

What’s worked well in a rural setting? What hasn’t?

David: Here has been my biggest surprise: the number of older adults who are passionate about using digital tools for church communications. The digital world provides so many ways to help home-bound members of the church to stay connected to their community.  They can listen to the sermon podcast, read the bulletin online and participate in discussions. It has been such a great ministry tool with that community.

Any approach to communication that is either/or simply doesn’t work in a rural settings. I have seen churches in other settings go “all digital”—dropping their print communications.  That would not be effective here. In this setting, we take a both/and approach.

At the end of the day, good church communications are about the community—and should reflect that community. If you try to use a cookie-cutter approach, it will never work.

More on Getting Started
If you’re looking for more help on getting started, check out the rest of our Getting Started interview series. Another resource that might be a big help is our new book, Dangerous: A Go-to Guide for Church Communication. It covers a lot of the basics, from big picture strategy to practical stuff like video and sound.

Be sure to jump over to the Lab and post your work, or stop by and leave some feedback for others.

• “Call 911: This Church is On Fire!”
• “Exercise Daily: Walk with the Lord.”
• “Exposure to the Son May Prevent Burning.”

All of these signs say different things about their church:

• “We’re charismatic.”
• “We’re devoted.”
• “We believe in hell.”

Or “We like cheesy slogans!” (for more on this rich vein, check out Temptation Bangs Forever: The Worst Church Signs You’ve Ever Seen).

Of course, that’s not nearly everything there is to know, but for the passersby, it’s a good start. And it might be all they need to know before deciding whether or not they’re going to pull into the parking lot some day.

Besides the building itself, a church’s primary sign is its first impression. It’s our first chance to tell the community who we are, what we value, and what we do. It’s also one of our best shots at inviting people to join us. Here are some things to keep in mind when you think about your church’s primary sign:

• Make it big, but not too big. Consider your sign’s size. You want your sign to be in proportion to your building, fit the surrounding community and be readable from a distance; you want people to see it but not be overwhelmed by it.
• Place it in your most visible location. Where do the majority of people pass your church either in cars or on foot? Place your sign there for maximum impact.
• Make sure it fits with the overall look of your church. If your church building is red brick, don’t make your primary sign out of white Austin stone. Ideally, the overall aesthetic look of your church would make sense and be appealing to the eye.
• Make it durable. Whether your sign is made of brick, stone, marble, or some other sturdy material, you want it to be able to resist the majority of weather conditions. You also want your sign to endure multiple seasons of your church. Either post static information (same service times every week) or make your sign content easily changeable (the sermon title and pastor preaching this Sunday posted on one of those marquees.).
• Make it clear. Use attractive, easy-to-read fonts on your sign. Don’t overcrowd it with verbiage. Consider lighting it at night.
• Give information. Take some time to think about what you want passersby to know about your church. What time you worship? A piece of your theology? A word of welcome? Something for more info like a phone number of website? Highlight who your church is and why you think people should come to it. Cover all that but also be brief—people driving by won’t have time to read much (yes, it’s a difficult balance). Also remember that information changes but your sign is likely going to be around for a while. Can you change those worship times if you need to?
• Marquee or not? You should also decide if you want to the space for those changeable slogans that generate so much attention. While they get the majority of the attention, it’s not always good attention.

Sometimes you only have one chance to advertise. When people go by your church, what are you saying to them?

What’s the one thing you wish you had known when you were getting started in church communication?

Dre’ Barnes: I wish I would had known just how much it is about making things the three Cs for people: Convenience, Connection and Conversation. If you don’t make things convenient for people they won’t use it, it does not matter how awesome the design looks. If you are not connecting or meeting people where they are, whether it is spiritual, emotional or mental, it won’t matter. And you have to continue the conversation through Sunday. Church is 365, period.

If a church is just starting to get serious about communication, where should they start?

Dre’: I would suggest taking a look at the three Cs and seeing where things fall under each of them. If a church wants to start a Facebook page or a Twitter account, those communication funnels touch on all three of the Cs but something else may only fall under one. In addition, you will have figure out as a church whether your priority is to reach all the Cs or just a few.

What was your first great success as a church communicator? What made it work so well?

Dre’: I don’t know if I would call it our first great success but when we made it on CNN for how we use social media during worship, it was an awesome feeling. Making sure our community had something to talk about and share with the world online is what made it work so well. Furthermore, seeing our community come back during the week to their Facebook or Twitter feeds and use them as notes to get them through their week or month is an amazing thing.

What was your first great failure? What lessons did you learn?

Dre’: Honestly, I have been blessed to not have any great failures, yet but if the word was changed to disappointment, I would say when we first did live tweets in worship on our Middle Screen (what we call our three screen) that did not go over so well. We have been blessed with a great mixture of generations; however, not every generation really enjoyed the frequency of the tweets and looked at them as a distraction to the experience as a whole. Therefore, the next time we did live tweets in worship we toned down the frequency and the location the tweets would appear and we got much less push back.

How can you make progress when you have little or no budget?

Dre’: There are a lot of great online blogs (like this one) and resources, and some of their information is free. I would start there and utilize it to the best of my ability. Also, find the right volunteers. You don’t need 20 or 50 volunteers on your team. You need passionate volunteers who are willing to commit to the vision of the church.

How can low tech churches still make strides in communication? I’m thinking about churches that don’t have any techies on staff and are forced to rely on volunteers that don’t always come through.

Dre’: You have to take things one step at a time. When I present, I normally present on social media and how to use online software effectively. I would encourage these churches to look at online software and see which ones are “no-brainers.” This means the ones that will get little push back and are the easiest to implement at their church.

More on Getting Started
If you’re looking for more help on getting started, check out the rest of our Getting Started interview series. Another resource that might be a big help is our new book, Dangerous: A Go-to Guide for Church Communication. It covers a lot of the basics, from big picture strategy to practical stuff like video and sound.

We love Creative Missions. And here’s a good reason why: 400%. Andy Swart is the pastor of Metro Church in Northwest Arkansas and shares in the video below how a visit from Creative Missions in 2012 enabled his church to grow by 400% in eight months. He created this video to encourage this year’s team:

“As pastors, we think theologically, we think about pastoral care. A lot of times we don’t really see the value in marketing, brand, social media, website presence and some of those things. But I want to encourage you in this: You’re going to be planting seeds.”

So many great stories came out of Alaska from this year’s Creative Missions. Seeds have been planted and hopefully churches in Anchorage will see God moving.

Creative Missions for Your Church
While an official Creative Missions trip only happens once a year, you can still have a Creative Missions experience for your church. We wrote the book on it. Dangerous: A Go-to Guide for Church Communication was written by Creative Missions participants and shares basic marketing insights on topics including strategy, web sites, social media, video, writing and more. It’s designed to give your church the same kind of help a visit from Creative Missions offers.

Is your church ready to be dangerous? Grab a copy of Dangerous today.

I love seeing the church do more than Sunday morning.

I love seeing the church do more than VBS or neighborhood outreach.

I love seeing the church do more than missions.

I love seeing the church do more.

All of those things are great, but I love seeing churches giving back to other churches. We’re not in competition. We’ve all got the same goal. Why not help each other out?

So Gateway is going to finance the Table Project and keep it free for other churches. And not just big megachurches. (Their FAQ answers that question with a “No way.” Love it. I used to write for the Table and I’m thrilled to see they’ve still got a strong voice.)

It’s the same kind of thing LifeChurch.tv has done with the YouVersion Bible app, the Church Online Platform, Church Metrics and free resource downloads at Open. A lot of churches have shared their graphic resources, like Church on the Move with Seeds, Southeast Christian Church with Stuff I Can Use, Elevation Church and others.

It’s what Creative Missions was about last week. I love seeing the church helping the church.

It’s especially cool when we’re talking about churches building something new (not just sharing their leftovers). Sharing stuff you’ve already made is great, but when churches do something new and share it? That’s powerful. That’s not the kind of thing any sane company or organization would do, and that’s exactly the point. The Church is not a normal organization. We should be extravagant with one another and with the world.

Let’s Talk:

• What are some other examples of churches giving stuff away to other churches?
• How about churches doing new stuff and sharing it?
• What’s something your church is doing that it could give to another church?

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” -Madeleine L’Engle (Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art)

Learn more about Madeleine L’Engle in our Church Communication Heroes profile and read our review of Walking on Water.

I don’t know if this was the pastor’s typical practice, but as a guest, it was a huge leg up in knowing where to find the information about how to get involved.

Your church may have stellar events, programs and even great communication strategies, but the best laid plans can get derailed by the simple lack of clearly and concisely communicating how you communicate.

There is no better way to complement the work you’ve done in crafting a focused, strategic communications plan for your church than to pair it with a plan to regularly communicate to the congregation where to access information. Tell them how you communicate.

Best Practices
Here are some of the best practices for keeping your audience connected:

• Have one channel that communicates everything you need people to know. Websites are ideal main channels. They should be well managed and updated often. All other channels should receive their information from this channel to maintain consistency. It should be the first channel you update with new or changed information.
• Plan to communicate your channels once a month from the platform. Promote  your main channel every week from the platform and in your program/bulletin.
• Use each channel to make people aware of other avenues your church uses to communicate. For example, a Facebook post can encourage people to sign up for an email newsletter.
• Communicate these avenues to your leaders even more regularly and help them understand what you promote through what channels and why you handle communications the way you do (reasons will be varied for every church).
• Communication is a two-way street; be sure to also define the channels that the church can communicate back to its leadership and make them known.

Communicating how you communicate will ensure everyone has access to your information from your most senior member to your newest guest. Putting a strategy together to communicate how you communicate and where to receive pertinent information will add tremendous value to every other strategy you have in place.