Playing with the line breaks to see how that would work on a changeable sign and using faithful love rather than steadfast love,
I came up with this, where I think the parallelism between the two lasts works well:

WANT SOMETHING THAT
LASTS LONGER THAN SEX?
GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE
LASTS FOREVER

Any other thoughts?

Grace & peace,
Terry

Maybe Terry, but the reality is that the Barnies sign has already been up and may even by now have gone. I saw it last week, though, when I drove past.

The really key thing about this sign was not the precise contents, but the fact that it’s colour scheme and layout exactly mimicked the billboards that Sydney people can’t help but see all over the place.

It got quite a reaction - here’s the article about it in the SMH from May 29th:

A company specialising in erectile dysfunction treatment has called a Sydney church’s spoof of its notorious billboards a “divine endorsement”.

St Barnabas Anglican church on Broadway may have burnt down two years ago, but its street-side billboard continues to provide passers-by with religious witticisms.

The church found its latest inspiration in the giant advertising billboard erected across the street by the Advanced Medical Institute (AMI) which carries the firm’s now infamous slogan: “Want longer lasting SEX?”

St Barnabas has countered with a similar, if smaller, uplifting message that reads: “Want something longer lasting than SEX? ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases’ - Bible: Lamentations 3.22”.

AMI chief executive Jack Vaisman said that far from being a snipe, the St Barnabas billboard was evidence the church supports healthy love lives.

“I think it’s brilliant and if the church doesn’t see anything wrong with having longer lasting sex, I don’t think there should be any problem with other people,” Mr Vaisman said.

The AMI billboard had been gracing the busy inner-city thoroughfare for about six months when a staff member noticed the church’s response a few days ago.

Mr Vaisman said he felt heartened when he heard of the church’s witty replay to the ad.

“I thought: ‘Oh my God, if the church supports such a banner ... it seems like we are doing right’,” he said.

“Definitely, it is an endorsement what they did ... divine endorsement.”

Since the 1920s, St Barnabas was well-known for its friendly feud with the nearby Broadway Hotel, with the two institutions trading jocular messages.

When the church sign read: “You have nothing that God did not give you”, the pub’s sign said: “I know I have nothing, but I’m not sure who gave it to me”.

Another message from the church read: “Wise men came to Jesus - they still do”, to which the Broadway Hotel replied: “Wise drinkers come to Broadway - they still do”.

(I’m not sure that the Barnabas response is showing support for the ads, though. I personally find them distasteful and offensive. Nothing wrong with erectile dysfunction treatments being produced and sold, but these signs are way too “in your face”. And in the faces of kids and others who just don’t need to see such stuff.)

I hate those ads, especially when driving with my kids. The standard response to stuff that was obnoxious used to be ‘well you can just switch it off/ not read the magazine” etc., but you have no choice but to see billboards when driving.

The Barnies response is clever, and a reference, but hardly an endorsement. It’s a pity they didn’t speak to a Barnies rep about it, but then again it is the SMH.

Warren said:
Maybe Terry, but the reality is that the Barnies sign has already been up and may even by now have gone. I saw it last week, though, when I drove past.

The really key thing about this sign was not the precise contents, but the fact that it’s colour scheme and layout exactly mimicked the billboards that Sydney people can’t help but see all over the place.

Hi Warren,

I wasn’t intending to criticise the excellent Barnies’ sign but to follow on from that with some thoughts on how we can refine and use some of that sign’s ideas elsewhere, particularly on “text-changeable” signs.

I think that is a useful role for this thread.

By “elsewhere” I mean the 99% of churches who don’t have the resources to produce customised full-colour banners regularly.

Perhaps the Outreach Posters people could also utilise the Barnies’ idea for a future full-colour poster?
(We run one of those near our text-changeable sign.)

Grace & peace,
Terry

hi there, dont know how long it has been up as i have just come back from a holiday. My local church at Lane Cove has the following - would have got number from the census figures i presume
Lane Cove
18% Anglican
100% loved by God
kaylene ( one of the 18% but who goes to st thomas nth sydney)

Hi Kaylene,

That’s a clever one.

Does St Thomas do any itself?

Grace & peace,

Terry

Hi,

Here is one that I didn’t consciously take from somewhere else
but I am sure variations on it have been used before (e.g. on t-shirts):

THE PERSON WHO DIES
WITH THE MOST TOYS
DIES

Wadya reckon?

Grace & peace,
Terry

Hi Terry,

Good idea. The T-shirts usually have “Still dies”, but yours has quite an impact.

I wouldn’t suggest this as a real alternative option (well, only if you want multiple community complaints), but here’s a thought:

THE PERSON WHO DIES
WITH THE MOST TOYS
LEAVES A WHOLE LOT OF JUNK
FOR THEIR LOVED ONES TO CLEAN UP

Not quite as punchy, is it?

Kristen Young - 04 July 2008 12:53 PM

Hi Terry,

Good idea. The T-shirts usually have “Still dies”, but yours has quite an impact.

I wouldn’t suggest this as a real alternative option (well, only if you want multiple community complaints), but here’s a thought:

THE PERSON WHO DIES
WITH THE MOST TOYS
LEAVES A WHOLE LOT OF JUNK
FOR THEIR LOVED ONES TO CLEAN UP

Not quite as punchy, is it?

Perhaps not, but I still like it!
Bob

Hi Kristen,

I think your version could also work well with just the first three lines:

THE PERSON WHO DIES
WITH THE MOST TOYS
LEAVES A WHOLE LOT OF JUNK

The shorter version perhaps encourages a double meaning for junk:
i.e. both the material possessions left behind
and the dubious legacy of moral values passed on to family and others.

Grace & peace,
Terry

That’s a nice improvement, Terry! :)

I just posted this on the “SA writers in the papers” thread, but thought it worthy to post it on this Church Signs thread as an encouragement for those who put up signs outside their churches. It is a good example of taking the next step. First you put up a sign - and then someone takes the next step and writes to the media to bring more attention to it to a wider audience.

Here is the tale of a sign in Maroubra - that Daily Telegraph readers throughout all of Sydney and NSW now know about :

“Recently I saw a church billboard in Maroubra proclaiming “There is one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus”. With the way the Catholics seem to view the Pope and priests as mediator, it’s just as well the anti-annoyance laws do not come into power before the World Youth Day.
Hendry Wan Matraville ”

Hi Kevin,

I am just tracking you through the forums....8-)

That sounds like the July Outreach Poster.
We have it up too and numerous other churches will as well.

Newspaper publicity (within reason) is a good bonus.

Grace & peace,
Terry

Hi,

A friend reported this clever sign on a northside church he drove past, so the wording may be approximate:

Save $5000 at WYD, come here every Sunday and annoy us for free!

On a minor pedantic note the maximum fine is $5,500, according to the SMH, so another church could offer a 10% greater saving.

Grace & peace,
Terry

Hi again,

Following my earlier “despite our efforts” sign,
which Kevin will be pleased to know has not seen me arrested yet,
I have been playing with another one for the actual WYD period....
something like this:

BYPASS THE JAMS & QUEUES
THRU JESUS CHRIST
TALK TO GOD DIRECT
RIGHT HERE & NOW

Any thoughts or comments?

Unmerited favour to you from God,
Terry