Somewhere around 2005, when we asked random people in Fort Lee if they knew where Good Shepherd, or the Episcopal Church, was, they would usually look at us blankly. We’d describe the location, and they’d say, “Oh, is that church still open?” “I thought it was a Korean church, because of the sign.” Officials in town and in local social service agencies knew us primarily because of Friends for Life, our HIV support program.
In the way that churches work, we spent the next few years talking about how we needed to redo the sign, a 6x8 foot rectangle with 3 feet for our church and 3 feet for the Korean congregation which was an afternoon tenant. The top half, “our half,” had been lighted, but the power line was interrupted at some point and we "always meant to fix it….” You know how that goes! There was a place to insert changeable preset magnetic panels, with print too small to read and archaic names for “The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ” but no place to insert the time of the service. All of this was seated on a stone base, perpendicular to the sidewalk.
Then, on Palm Sunday of 2009, an “act of God” in the form of a windstorm toppled the entire sign, stones and all.
We received some money from Church Insurance for replacement value, but we saw this as a "sign from God" to do something new. We researched electronic signs. They were too expensive. We used vinyl banners to announce events, but they blew over all the time.
In 2011 we applied for a Congregational Vitality Grant to fund new signs around Fort Lee and hire a consultant, who helped us reshape our stewardship program, revitalize congregational development, and start a capital campaign, which included funding for an electronic sign.
At least half of the congregation was aghast – how could an electronic sign possibly go with a 19th century stone church? Yet we knew that we had a good opportunity. Over the next two years we worked with a sign maker to find something affordable and tasteful. Funds raised from the capital campaign paid for the sign – even folks who were still suspicious supported it.
The new sign has been up for about four months, and I think we’ve won over almost everyone. We can post events easily. We post jokes: “Church Parking Only: Violators will be baptized!” We wished Jewish neighbors “L’Shanah Tovah.” Pedestrians have come in from the street to compliment us, and others stand and watch the sign scroll through its news to see what’s new.
We were delighted when Canon Jacobs came last week to officially bless the sign, and our efforts to “proclaim the good news in word and deed.” We followed the blessing with a litany in procession around the church to pray for the neighborhood.
The Rev. Allison Moore, (far left) and parishioners doing a litany in procession around Good Shepherd's property, praying for their
community. GREG JACOBS PHOTO
The Rev. Allison Moore is Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Fort Lee.
