Church sign attracts following

You could call it a sign of the times.

For the past 18 years, the reader board outside Bethany Presbyterian Church at Third Avenue and Freya Street has caught the eye of drivers on the way to and from work.

Not the usual schedule of church services, the messages have been – and continue to be – at the very least, thought provoking.

Just about everybody who passes through the busy intersection reads the messages, which is exactly what the Rev. Paul Rodkey, pastor at Bethany, has in mind.

When he first came to Bethany 20 years ago, he found a congregation eager to develop new ideas.

“We recognized that more people drive by than come in to the church, so we thought it might be good to have a conversation with them,” said the pastor of the 85-member congregation. The idea percolated for a year, then church elder Margaret White, who died just last year, bought the sign as a memorial for her late husband George.

And, in 1989, up it went.

It’s up to Rodkey to craft the messages, a task he relishes.

“The Religious Right is Neither.”

“Each War Sows The Seeds For The Next.”

“Worship Not Because You Must But Because You Can.”

“Real Love Is Helping Someone Who Can Never Return The Favor.”

“Violence Never Solved Anything. Period.”

“It Does Not Require Money To Be Neat, Clean And Dignified.”

His “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” message elicited a response in the form of an impromptu cardboard sign tacked on stating, “Saddam.”

“A lot of church signs are incredibly boring,” Rodkey said. “Bible verses and cute sayings are not the best use of resources.

“We need to have language that makes people think, that sometimes pushes boundaries and challenges the status quo, especially if we want to have a dialogue outside the Christian loop. That’s where the discussion in churches needs to be.

“Churches have been masters at hiding from issues of the day, but that’s not getting us anywhere.”

Certainly, Bethany Presbyterian Church’s signs are never boring.

Some people even travel out of their way to read the messages. Rodkey said he knows of some who drive through Spokane on their way east, depart I-90 at the Thor-Freya exit just to read the sign, and then pop right back on the freeway again.

The Spokesman-Review’s Paul Turner dubbed it the most entertaining church reader board in the city in his April 1, 2004, Slice column, stating “Whether it’s taking on Mel Gibson or challenging societal complacency, this church speaks up.”

Not everybody is thrilled, however, including the local resident who took Turner to task for putting his stamp of approval on a sign she found “unduly confrontational and grating.”

Bethany parishioners love it, Rodkey said, but he’s heard from parishioners at other churches that their pastors sometimes take the sign to task.

“But, still, Spokane needs to hear that we get far more calls and letters of support for the sign than negative comments,” Rodkey said.

Some of the negative comments have risen to the level of bomb threats and a death threat, especially during the 2001 Shower of Stoles exhibit and conference held at Bethany. The topic: homosexuality in the church.

The message on the sign supported the well-attended conference, but it did bring to the surface some of the hate that exists in the community, the minister said.

Sometimes he likes to tweak the passers-by – such as at Christmas, when he always puts the word Xmas in the message. Somebody almost always remarks about that, Rodkey said, like one woman who came in to the building with a lengthy rant that the X takes the Christ out of Christmas and is the symbol of the devil.

“I listened quietly until she was done, then told her that X is the Greek symbol for Christ,” he said. “I do tire of the ignorance.”

But he has many cards and letters that hearten him. Right after 9/11, he put up the message “Pray that God Will Bless the Whole World” and was warmed by the outpouring of gratitude that Bethany was being global in seeking God’s blessing for all people, not just for the United States.

Rodkey has been involved with social justice issues most of his life, a commitment he takes with him to his additional duties with United Ministries at Eastern Washington University, where he finds the young people engaged about confronting bias and prejudice.

“They get it,” he said.

Currently Bethany is facing a dilemma about what to do with its reader board. Formerly a two-way street, Freya is now one-way going north past the church, leaving the sign really only visible to eastbound traffic on Third.

The congregation is looking at readjusting the sign’s position or adding an additional sign on the south side of the building.

“We’re thinking about what to do,” he added, and with a smile spreading across his face, allowed that “of course, if anyone would like to contribute to our sign fund, we’d be very open to that.”

Just like 20 years ago when the idea for the sign originated, he still sees it as an important communication tool for his church.

He really wants the lively, thoughtful conversation with the community to continue and to be as effective as it can be.

Even if it takes place at 35 miles per hour.