Church Life

Corporate Worship

Church signs—and billboards—attract passersby

Oh, those clever church signs: “Give God what’s right, not what’s left.” “God answers knee mail.” “Forbidden fruit creates many jams.” Manhattan’s Grace Church, an Episcopal congregation, has a sign too. One week it said, “If happiness is just around the corner, turn often.” The previous week, it talked about infinity.

Oops: Make that Infiniti—the luxury car line’s G-35 model, to be precise. And that happiness sign? An ad for Citibank. Pastor David Rider explained to The Wall Street Journal that the 140-foot-long billboard above its portico is necessary to defray $2 million in necessary church restoration costs. “We could whine, or we could get creative,” he said.

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The Wall Street Journal article is available online.

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