Church Signs Across America

by Steve Paulson, Pam Paulson

A full-color celebration of the American religious tradition of church signs features a wide range of whimsical, reverent, and inspiring examples from all parts of the country, in a volume that includes such entries as "Families are like fudge.mostly sweet with a few nuts" and "Looking for a lifeguard? Ours walks on water."

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Christian, Photography, Religion

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2007

Reviews

[Musi De Ovin]

The stooping book gods that live on my street look down kindly upon me for this one. I loved it. I want to travel the country and do a project like this. Nostalgia, the south and Bible Belt, the cooky and marketable nature of American religious worship and puns. We do love puns. I bet there are funnier signs out there though. It only takes the person dedicated enough to track them down.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book thinking I would mock and laugh at backwards church signs. Some signs were laughable but many had wisdom and a fresh ideas on faith.

[Hal Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

FORBIDDEN FRUIT
CREATES MANY JAMS
(Christ the King, Normal, IL)

I had expected this book to be a humor book, filled with witty (or “witty”; YMMV) messages from church signs; and, there are many of these there.

THE BEST VITAMIN FOR
A CHRISTIAN IS
B1
(Temple Baptist Church, Franklin, OH)

But there also many “straight” (i.e. not funny) religious exhortations, or just biblical quotations, and, most delightfully, pure folk wisdom, the vestiges of oral tradition in these days when all tradition is passed on by text.

A CLOSED MOUTH
GATHERS NO FOOT
(Cape Christian Fellowship, Cape Coral, FL)

The end result is a book that is more an anthropological record of a(n American?) cultural phenomenon than anything else.

Still, the clever signs are the best ones, right?

WAL MART ISNT
THE ONLY SAVING
PLACE IN TOWN
(Gethsemane Baptist Church, Nashville, TN)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time I lived by a church sign. I will never forget one message that was posted in the summer, "You think it is hot here?" More recently, I was singing along to the song "I want to know what love is" on my way to work. Just as that line came up I passed another church sign that said "God is Love." Church signs are great!

This book has a few really good messages too. It is all pictures of churches with a picture of the sign below it. It took about 10 minutes to get through.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy reading the church signs as much as I'd hoped -- they tended to be poorly punctuated, poorly spelled, theologically iffy, and/or cliché -- but I did like seeing the pictures of the church buildings alongside the signs. I found it interesting that despite the variety of architecture, most of the buildings looked familiar, like some other church building I've seen.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I spied the "Don't Let the Hearse Be Your First Trip to Church" sign in Spring, TX, this Jewish gal has been hooked on funny church signs. Some are amusing, some are inspirational, and some are just... churchy. For more fun, check out http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Church signs can be so hilarious!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed that these photos were taken all across America. I was surprised to find this is not a Midwest or Bible Belt phenomenon.

[George Shubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's not much reading to this book. It's basically a collection of interesting or amusing church signs. It's a pleasant enough coffeetable book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read! Canada has some funny church signs, but nothing really to this degree!

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very important to be aware of.