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Get Smart Part II - take a look at your notice board.
 

Your noticeboard will often be the first point of contact that many visitors or casual passers-by may have with your church. Its visual impact can’t be overestimated and we need to take full advantage of what are often ‘prime advertising sites’. It’s even more important if your church is locked during the week – the noticeboard will be advertising the Church and Christianity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you’re thinking about a new noticeboard, it might be worthwhile spending a little time on this checklist to make sure you have the right one.

• The colour should either be bright or sympathetic to its surroundings. Black is more suited to the funeral directors than a local church.
   

• Passers-by need to be able to understand what it’s saying. Phrases like ‘Fellowship meeting’ or even ‘The Lord’s Table’ may be precious to us but they are meaningless to most people.
   
• The style and feel should represent the style and feel of the church and its worship. A formal church noticeboard sends the message that it’s advertising a formal church and worship.
   
• The URC logo will help those searching for a United Reformed Church. In general other logos should only be included if they are self-explanatory. Anyone with access to the Internet can download the URC logo in a variety of sizes for use in church publicity.
   
• Dated information makes the church itself look out of date. Do you really need to post the minister’s name? If so, ensure that you deal promptly with any changes. There are few more dispiriting sights than a notice-board with a piece of paper stuck over the minister’s name.
   
• If you do use ministers’ names, there is no need to feed their ego with meaningless qualifications of no interest to anyone e.g. MA, BD, ‘O’ level Domestic Science. Why not use the space for a Christian name instead?
   
• Let the board show a little of the whole life of the church not just the two hours of services on a Sunday. Many noticeboards imply that is all we get up to.
   
• The noticeboard is the first staging post in providing information. Does yours tell them where to find more?
   
• Do you have a protected  place for removable, temporary information, such as jumble sales, or special services – or does it have to be covered with cling film to stop the rain making the lettering run?
   
• A noticeboard must be weatherproof. Cheap boards which peel or rot in a couple of years are a waste of money.
   
• The lettering doesn’t have to be Gothic or Olde Worlde just because it’s a church board!
   
• Design it – don’t throw it together! List your information in descending order of importance, then ask a graphic designer to make the material work visually.
   
• Think carefully about position. People must be able to read the noticeboard easily without having to come onto the premises. Don’t automatically put it where the old one was – it may not be the best place.
   
• Remember that a board isn’t limited to being functional. Properly designed  and made with pride it can add something to the locality.
   
• Don’t forget vandals! You may well need to explore unbreakable glass and modern materials.
   
• Experiment during the design phase. Don’t just copy the last noticeboard or the one outside the church down the road. Remember you’re trying to grab people’s attention.
   
• Perhaps the most important thing any noticeboard can do is to welcome visitors. A phrase like ‘We warmly welcome all visitors’ has to be a must!

If you feel goaded into action, take your time and don’t rush it. Appoint a small working party to look at the issues and come up with some ideas. Financially, it may not be possible to do it this year, and perhaps it has to be budgeted for over the next two or three years to do a good job.

Remember that designing, painting and constructing a church noticeboard is a three-stage process requiring totally different skills. A creative designer designs, usually on paper. A painter paints.  A builder builds. Unless you intend to employ ‘Archangel Gabriel Ltd.,’ you’ll be wise to keep the three stages entirely separate. Local colleges running courses in design or communication may well be prepared to incorporate your needs into a project for students.

Adapted from a checklist produced by the Communications Office of the Lichfield Diocese, St Mary’s House, The Close, Lichfield, WS13 7LD. Used by permission.

Greening your church When you conduct the audit of your church premises, why not take the opportunity to ensure that your buildings also display your church’s care for the environment. Christian Ecology Link publish a pack, Steps towards Sustainability, which has a wealth of information and ideas from energy use to ethical investment. They can be contacted at 20 Carlton Road, Harrogate HG2 8DD or via their web site at www.christian-ecology.org.uk The URC’s Roots and Branches pack, has a host of ideas, and contact names and addresses to help and encourage local churches to care for God’s creation. It is obtainable from the URC Bookshop or from URC Books Online via this website.	Posters and Publicity The Christian Publicity Organisation produce a full range of publicity material for all occasions. They can be contacted at Garcia Estate, Canterbury Road, Worthing BN13 1BW Both St Paul Multi Media Productions (Middle Green, Langley, Slough SL3 6BS) and McCrimmon Publishing Co Ltd (10 High Street, Great Wakering, Southend on Sea, SS3 0EQ) produce a wide range of high quality posters and cards.	Church Premises Audit More detailed advice on how to go about conducting an audit of your premises is given in the book How to Promote Your Church. The book will help you to address questions like: how does your church communicate now; who are the people our church is aiming at; what does our church say is its message; what are local people seeing and hearing? It is published by Church House Publishing and available from the URC Bookshop.
	Church Buildings Each Synod Office has legal and trust officers, property advisors and specialists on listed buildings who are available to help local congregations.  Local Authorities also can provide help and advice. Church Buildings Each Synod Office has legal and trust officers, property advisors and specialists on listed buildings who are available to help local congregations.  Local Authorities also can provide help and advice.	Accessibility Advice on how to ensure that your church premises welcome everyone is available from the URC’s own Equal Opportunities Committee. Write to the Secretary of the Committee at Church House, 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RT.

 

Each year, the theme of the rolling programme will provide an opportunity to share bright ideas, successes and disasters with other congregations. If you have a story to tell about the way you have used your premises to communicate (or even fail to communicate!) a welcome to the wider community then send it (along with some pictures if you possibly can) to Get Smart 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RT. Material submitted, along with more practical advice over the year will be added to a special section of the URC website (www.urc.org.uk)

Published by the Communications and Editorial Committee of the United Reformed Church. Designed in the Reform Office.

 

 

 

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