Church and School Signs
A church sign has two audiences. The members already know where the building is; they want to see the revival dates, the fish fry, the change in Sunday school time. Everyone else driving by is reading it to learn who you are and when to show up.
Guilford County has a lot of churches, and many sit on the same busy roads as the shopping centers. A sign that changes every week gets read, and one that has said the same thing since Easter gets tuned out. That is why most of the church signs we build now carry a digital message board on a solid base.
Digital message boards vs changeable letters
A changeable letter board is the classic: a lit cabinet with tracks, and a box of plastic letters someone climbs up to change. It is cheaper to buy and has nothing to program. It also means a volunteer on a step ladder every week, letters that blow off in a thunderstorm, and a message that only changes when somebody remembers.
A digital message board changes from a laptop or phone in the church office. It can show the service times in the morning, the youth event in the afternoon and a scripture verse at night. Full-color boards show photos and logos; single-color amber boards cost less and read well for text. We help you pick the size by how far away people read it and how fast they drive past. For the wiring, dimming and storm protection behind any lit sign, see how we wire and dim lit signs.
School signs and campus entries
Schools use their signs for the same reason churches do: the message changes all the time. Early release days, picture day, open house, a ballgame, the spring play. A digital board at the main entry lets the front office post it without sending a custodian outside.
School campuses often need more than one sign. A main monument sign with the name and the message board at the road, then smaller directional signs for the bus loop, the visitor lot and the gym entrance. Private schools and day cares often want the main sign to match the building in brick or stone, the same way an office does.
Safety shapes school signs more than church signs. The main sign should not block a driver's view of children crossing at the entrance, so we keep it out of the sight lines at the drive and set the board height so it reads over parked cars without becoming a wall. Directional signs for drop-off and pick-up need large, plain lettering that a parent can read in a line of slow traffic at 7:45 in the morning. And where a school shares its campus with a church, one sign can carry both names with a message board they share on a schedule.
What the city allows for electronic messages
Electronic message signs come with extra rules. Local ordinances generally limit how bright the board can run at night, how often the message can change, and whether it can scroll, flash or animate. Those rules differ between Greensboro, High Point and the county, and they also depend on the zoning around the church or school.
We check the rules for your address before we size the board, set the brightness and change timing to match, and handle the permit paperwork. Most boards have automatic dimming that turns brightness down at dusk, which keeps the neighbors happy as well as the inspector. Churches south of Greensboro often fall under the review for congregations out in Jamestown or High Point instead of the city.
Brick and stone bases that match the building
A message board sitting on two bare steel posts looks like a gas station price sign. Set the same board into a brick base that matches the sanctuary, with a cast stone cap and the church name in raised letters above it, and it looks like part of the property.
We build the base on a deep footing, because Piedmont clay heaves and a sign with a heavy cabinet on top will lean if the footing is shallow. Brick, stacked stone and stone veneer are all common. We match the brick to the building where we can and leave a service opening so the board's electronics can be reached later without taking the masonry apart. The same masonry work shows up on the ground signs we build for offices.
Paying for it: committees, gifts and phases
Churches rarely buy a sign on one person's say-so. There is a building committee, a finance committee and often a vote of the members. Schools have boards and budgets with set calendars. We give you what those meetings need: a scaled drawing, a short list of options and a written price.
Every sign is quoted by size, materials and lighting, with a drawing and the price in writing before any digging starts, and that makes it easier to raise money against a real number. Some churches fund the sign as a memorial gift. Others build in phases: the brick base and lettering this year, with the cabinet opening framed and wired so the digital board drops in next year.
Request a church or school sign quote
Send the form with the church or school name and the street address, and tell us if you are leaning toward a digital board or changeable letters. Photos of where the sign will go, and of any old sign, can be texted to 336-579-0766; sometimes the old base can stay. The shop is open Monday through Thursday from 8 AM to 5 PM and Friday from 8 AM to noon, closed on weekends, and we can meet a committee on site during the week.
Mon–Thu 8 AM–5 PM · Fri 8 AM–12 PM · Sat–Sun closed