I don’t think “billboard” is the actual term for what I mean, but I just mean the lit sign in front of almost every church, where they put the plastic letters and make some sort of message.
The one right by me had a few ones that made me semi-chuckle, and I saw two notable ones on the way home tonight.
“Now taking eternal reservations, smoking or non”
“Try Jesus. If you don’t like him, the devil will take you back”
[in the summer]“Want to avoid burning? Use son block”
I find it a bit disturbing though - these people are trying to be a clever, but they’re taking ETERNAL TORTURE, THE WORST THING CONCEIVABLY POSSIBLE, and making a joke out of it.
Recently seen outside a church in rural Missouri: Hurting People Welcome Here
And my all-time favorite, seen outside a large Memphis church shortly after 9/11: Join us Friday in prayer for “all” people
It haa a wink-wink to it, like “well, maybe not those damned terrorists, and maybe not that snotty Mrs. Johnson down the street.”
I saw one recently that mentioned “the finger” and the direction it was pointing. Can’t remember the whole thing though. One of those “times have changed” moments. You couldn’t even say “the finger” on TV a few years ago and now it’s on church signs.
Long ago, Dad and I were driving to the dump one Saturday morning. As we drove past the local Lutheran church, a kinda sad cinder-block building, I looked up at its readerboard and read it out loud, without thinking much:
JILL YOU
ASS HOLE
…apparently gremlins had been at work Friday night…
My friends and I were driving once and were passed by a church van. The name of the church was “People get ready, Jesus is coming Church”. With a nice paint job, verses underneath, the whole shebang.
This led to us dicussing future churches in the same vein:
“Didn’t you hear me the first time, Jesus is coming Church”
“For the last time, I’m tellin’ you Jesus is coming Church”
The majority of our congregation at St. Timothy’s Anglican Church roots for the Leafs. Therefore, one year, we had a billboard up that read:
"God may not take sides…
But we do! Go Leafs Go!"
Alas, some Philistines from the unwashed masses stole it and it was never recovered. Woe.