BY BRIAN WHITT/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
bmwhitt@mail.roanoke.edu

FRANKLIN—When a church uses its marquee to promote its offerings, who is it that comes up with the sometimes witty slogans?

The Rev. Jim Foreman, pastor of Sedley Baptist Church, said each year a different member of the church handles the duty. This year, it’s Tom Bassey.

Bassey changes the sign every week or so. Messages range from scripture to quaint sayings, or upcoming events.

“We usually find our little sayings from books, word-of-mouth, even Facebook,” Foreman said. “We hope the sign will grab people’s attention, or get them thinking, or even entice them to stop by.”

Robin Eason, a member of Courtland Baptist Church, said its sign is primarily used for church news or upcoming services. It’s also used for quaint sayings, which are handled by a church member.

“We want to keep our members informed any way we can,” Eason said.

The Rev. John Ashley, pastor of High Street United Methodist, has worked at more than a dozen churches — some with signs, some without.

“When we had those signs, the pastor or a member of the church used them for sermon titles, catchy sayings, something to attract people to the church,” Ashley said.

“At one church we actually had a book filled with campy sayings to use for our sign.”

A few times, the signs brought folks into the church, Ashley said.