Put Your Church "Up Front"

Whether your church is prominently situated in its community or tucked into an obscure corner, it can be "up front" through the judicious use of the new roadside signs available through the General Conference Bu­reau of Public Relations.

Traffic to and from your town is funneled through comparatively narrow arteries. Once inside the city it can disperse in many directions and be hard to reach, but while it is still on those narrow arteries—there is your chance to speak.

Thus an attractive sign is really an exten­sion of your church. Figuratively the church is brought even from the back streets and put on the high road where all can be aware of its existence and receive its welcome.

Whether you post the inexpensive sign that costs less than a five-dollar bill, or use the glow­ing Scotchlite model to speak to travelers through the night, any church can now be "up front" witnessing for the faith.

Here are some practical suggestions on get­ting started with the roadside-sign project in the communities where you have churches:

1. Show the large poster, sent to all pastors, to your church or church board, getting nec­essary approval to order the signs. Appoint any necessary person or committee to see the job through. Your press secretary may be just the one.
2. Survey the approaches to your community. Determine whether other churches, and which ones, have signs already posted. See whether these are out of town, on private property, or on the right of way inside the city limits. Spot good locations for your own signs.
3. With this orientation, call your city street commissioner (if the right of way in city limits is involved) or the State highway department (if out of town on the right of way). Tell the responsible person that you have a neat in­formational sign you would like to post and want their permission before going ahead. If there are prohibitions or restrictions, this is the time to discover them. Often special privileges will be granted churches for posting small signs on the right of way even where commercial signs are forbidden.
4. If it is necessary to post your signs on private property off the right of way, contact the owners and get their permission. Usually there is no objection and no charge involved here if the sign does not create a nuisance. If the sign is to be off the road a long way, give real consideration to ordering the larger size (35 by 48 inches). This will seem small enough unless it is right on the roadway.
5. Order through your conference treasurer the number of signs you need to do the job. For double-faced signs, order two single-faced signs.
6. While you wait for the signs to come, you can find mounting material. A 4- by 4-inch cedar or redwood post is perfectly acceptable in most places. Judge the height according to the en­vironment, allowing two feet to go into the ground. Paint the posts white, with the base black about a foot above the ground (to re­duce the effect of splashing). If metal stand­ards seem more appropriate, regular channel-iron mounting posts can often be purchased from city or county sign ships. Other materials often used are ordinary one- or two-inch angle iron, iron pipe, or regular metal fence posts. Any of the iron posts should have a crosspiece in the ground to prevent twisting. Be sure any mounting you use is neat and rigid.
7. When the signs are up, let the church members know about it so they may share in the satisfaction of this new witness. It may even be interesting to them to see the actual signs before they are posted.