A Travel Free Learning Article
By Norman Jameson at NJameson@TheColumbiaPartnership.org
Download Jameson's Follow the Signs to Open Church
Is your church a forbidding fortress? Does it dare a visitor to find his or her way into the building?
Or does good signage direct a visitor into and through your facility to make him feel comfortable and familiar from his first visit?
You’ve been to your building enough so you know three ways to everywhere. You know when you pull into the lot which entrance to park near that gives you easiest access to the room you want.
But what of the visitor?
As editor of a statewide publication I’ve been to many churches that were built on once busy farm-to-market lanes. But now the church is not visible from the broader, straighter, faster highway that replaced those lanes and is hard to find.
You might think that everyone who would be visiting “knows” where to find you. Are you sure? Do you have directions on your website? Do you have your physical address listed on your website instead of your mailing address, so I can plug it into my GPS?
Once I’ve found your church, how do I find my way inside to your office? Or to your sanctuary if I’m there on Sunday to worship? Do you have a well marked, reserved, convenient parking place for me – a visitor – near your front door? The main sanctuary entrance to my own church faces the busy street, but parking is to the side and entering can be a mystery.
There is a “science” to this location identification called “wayfinding.” The term was coined by urban planner Kevin A. Lynch and refers to the user experience of orientation and choosing a path within the built environment. Lynch coined the term in his 1960 book Image of the City, where he defined wayfinding as “a consistent use and organization of definite sensory cues from the external environment.”
Put simply, the visitor wants to be able to step into your building and know immediately where he or she is; where that spot is in relation to where he or she wants to go; and what direction to proceed to move toward the desired location. All along the way, there should be affirmations that they are going in the right direction.
When you are hiking marked trails in the woods, symbols are tacked to trees telling you, “Yes, you’re on the right track.” If you were following the green diamond trail and suddenly you see red circles, you know you slipped onto the wrong trail.
A visitor is likely looking for one of three destinations: the sanctuary, the nursery or the church office. Do you have signs clearly indicating those destinations? Is the primary entrance clearly marked and visible from the parking lot?
Many times I’ve found my way inside a building only to be facing an unmarked hallway or stairs leading to an unknown destination. I don’t like wandering around in a strange building, but churches assume everyone who is going to be in their building knows where they are going.
Sunday Morning Test
If you can put yourself into a stranger mindset, approach your building on Sunday morning as if it is your first visit and you have a child for the nursery, a teenager for the youth and you’re trying to find a Bible study for yourself before worship.
Were you able to park conveniently? Do you see a clearly marked entrance? Is there a greeter at the door who can steer you in the right direction? If no greeter, what sign tells you whether to turn left or right or go straight to the nursery?
When you leave the nursery area, is there a sign to direct you to the education wing? Or to the sanctuary? What do you mean everyone naturally knows where to go?
Does a sign point to the youth area? Is there a visitor information desk? You don’t call it a “registration desk” do you? Good. Visitors are there to check you out; they’re not there to give you lots of personal information.
Don’t assume anything when you are putting up your signage. Avoid clutter, but not at the expense of clarity.
Do you have stairs? What’s up there? Don’t name every room, but give the broad category such as “Children grades 1-5” and be more specific at the top of the stairs. Where does the elevator go?
How does someone know whether you have a room for nursing mothers? Is there a listening room off the sanctuary? Can I see a sign for a restroom from the opposite end of the hall? If there is lunch in the fellowship hall following service, how does a visitor find the fellowship hall?
Pretend you are sight impaired and ask a friend who hasn’t been to your church to lead you to various places in the building. Can he find them?
Finding the Church
My family has twice joined churches that were named after parts of town from which they had since relocated. New to those towns, we had heard of the churches and drove to those areas looking for them. No sign of them.
I once heard that if your church needs a billboard on the highway to direct people to it, your church should be located where the sign is. It’s likely that you cannot relocate your building, so pay attention to how people might find it.
Your highway sign directing people to your church needs only your church name and an arrow and maybe the distance if it is more than a half mile. You do not need to put times of service, pastor’s name, and softball team’s record on that sign.
A stranger’s first impression of your church will be that sign. Make sure it is substantial and well maintained. The same is true of your outside maintenance. A parking lot full of weeds, tells more about your congregation than any friendly handshake at the door will be able to overcome.
Important Things to Know
Norman Jameson is a Ministry Partner with The Columbia Partnership. He is also editor of the Biblical Recorder, a state newspaper for Baptists in North Carolina. The Columbia Partnership is a non-profit Christian ministry organization focused on transforming the capacity of the North American Church to pursue and sustain Christ-centered ministry. Travel Free Learning is a leadership development emphasis. For more information about products and services check out the web site at www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org, send an e-mail to Client.Care@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, or call 803.622.0923.
