I was driving through a small community recently and noticed a church building with no sign of any kind at all. Judging by the cemetery beside the building, a congregation has called that place their home for quite some time. Surely the church has a name, but without any sort of sign to communicate it, they are a church with no name to anyone on that highway. Once upon a time I was the pastor of a church with a sign, but with no name on it. Driving by a church with no name reminded me of those days and the attitudes that I faced as I tried to address the situation.
Four years were required before that church finally installed a sign with the church's name on it. When I first noticed the problem, I mentioned it to a couple of people. One of them told me of a bitter battle over the current sign, the one without a name on it. Some people still had hard feelings about that sign years after its installation. I was advised to leave the issue alone. Another discreet inquiry revealed a different attitude. "Everybody already knows who we are." This attitude was a solid brick wall. It would not be moved. A frontal assault to push the church to install a sign would fail, so I decided to try a flanking strategy instead.
The times that we talked about being guest-friendly or including new people were perfect times to mention the need for a sign with the church's name on it. None of those discussions resulted in the momentum needed to purchase a new sign, but they did result in other signs being installed. For instance, signs designed to point guests toward restrooms were added to the building. Once a guest speaker came and he was not sure that he had driven to the right church. A sign would have confirmed it for him, but of course in our case it did not. I was able to mention that to a few key leaders. As time went by, I mentioned the issue when there was an opening, but nothing happened. Through the whole process, the "everybody already knows who we are" attitude was dominant.
In the end, Hurricane Katrina convinced the leaders that we needed a new sign. I remember the moment vividly. A tornado came through like a freight train just ahead of Katrina's eye wall. The tornado was moving very quickly, and I was too amazed by what I was seeing to be scared. Several large objects went flying in those couple of seconds, including that old sign. That tornado caused too much suffering for me to call it "good," but it did accomplish one good thing. A couple of months later, everyone agreed that we needed a new sign with the church's name on it.
I would like to be able to tell a story about how my leadership resulted in solving the sign problem. In truth, the sign was not a great priority. It was just a symptom of a larger problem. We often assume that everyone knows who we are. Being open to others and friendly to guests includes introducing ourselves. The absence of a sign with a name or signs to direct guests to restrooms is a symptom of a larger problem. A sign is just a sign, and really does not matter much at all. Being sensitive to guests matters a great deal. If we truly care about reaching out to people, then signs will follow.
