Everyone knows that if you have the letter "t" in your church name/logo, it better be spelled out in the shape of a cross. I know through Christ we are free from the law, but the "t law" is still in effect. If you refuse to adhere to that, a team of Christian graphic designers come to your church and confiscate your copy of Photoshop and Illustrator and take all your fonts except for Comic Sans.
But what about the other symbols of faith? If you wanted to create the ultimate, super holiest Church logo, what would it include? And how would you judge it? If only there were a ...
Stuff Christians Like Church Logo Holiness Guide:
1. You have a sun rising over a horizon, possibly spreading light through the "O" in the name of your church = + 3 points
2. A dove is flying gracefully through your logo = +1 point
3. A dove is flying gracefully through your logo with an olive branch in its mouth = +2 points
4. A dove is flying gracefully through your logo with an olive branch in its mouth and a "Jesus loves you" tattoo on one of its wings = +3 points
5. A swirl of flame is erupting somewhere on your logo = +1 point
6. There is an open Bible in your logo = +1 point
7. There is an open Bible in your logo and in tiny print you can actually see the words to John 3:16 on the page. = +2 points
8. A lion and a lamb are hanging out together on your logo = +1 point
9. A lion and a lamb are playing Frisbee golf together on your logo = +2 points
10. Crown of thorns = +2 points
11. Bedazzled crown befitting the King of Kings = +2 points
12. A worship eagle is high fiving a dove mid air = +5 points
13. There is a cluster of grapes or collection of wheat = +3 points
14. There is a chalice on the logo = +1 point
15. The chalice is encrusted with bling better suited to lil Jon, not Sweet Baby Jesus = - 3 points.
16. A big blue globe is floating somewhere in the background = +1 point
17. The scene were Elisha calls the bears down on some teenagers is somehow worked into your logo = +10 points
18. Ichthus or Jesus Fish is present = + 2 points for each
19. Instead of the letter A, you used an Icthus that kind of looks like it is walking on its tail in your church name = +3 points
The church I attend got a 0 which clearly concerns me. I think God said, "where at least two Christian symbols are gathered in a logo, there also will I be." That's not an exact translation but I'm pretty sure that's in the Bible. I'll have to counterbalance their low scoring logo by making the Stuff Christians Like logo jam packed with Christian goodness. Both "t's" will be crosses. The "f's" will actually be shepherd crooks. And the C will be the open mouth of a bear from the Elisha story. It's all coming together, it’s all coming together now.
How did your church score?
Monday, October 20, 2008
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106 comments:
My church also got a 0... Eep! Maybe I should change churches! Although our logo is the same sort of font as Hillsong which surely gains some sort of points?
I was wondering about this a few weeks ago: what do Christians do with their logos in places where the written language doesn't have t's?
You stopped at 19. I think you forgot the +5 points for:
15. There is a chalice on the logo filled with skittles = +5 point
That would round it out to a nice twenty, which everyone knows is a much holier number than 19. Twenty is half of forty which is one of the most holy numbers in the bible.
only the "t".....sigh.......
Haha, we scored zero! But we do have a cross in the logo, just not replacing the 't'!
mine got zero too!
Our church got a 3 - but with a few minor modifications we could easily be pushing 10 in no time!
Mine scored a painful zero. I'm going to a membership class tonight, though, so I'll definitely bring a printout of the list with the bear thing starred and highlighted.
Ed -
Well played. 19 is an awkward number and I have to confess I did not see the "half holy 40 idea." Brilliant
Jon
I hate to admit it, but I think my church gets a 0 too. That's a little embarrassing.
Our church scored a zero, but not because we are super hip cutting edge ... we just don't have a logo, but I'm working on it.
I"m thinking a flaming dove settling onto a cross with a sun rising in the horizon over a river of life flowing from a throne with a lamb and crown on it ... how many points is that worth?
I don't think people should try to "score" at church. That's just wrong.
p.s. Come to Stacy From Louisville
and win a mullet. Seriously.
Zero. I see some work needs to be done :)
so has anyone actually tried to get the max score yet?
Our church doesn't even HAVE a logo! How sad is THAT?
My church got a "0", too. That's OK, I like the logo and its different than other churches so it stands out anyway.
Our church scored a big, fat goose egg. However, the "o" in our church name, Convergence, doubles as the head of our mascot "Zeke", and that "o" represents our love of God. For me, obscure references al la Dennis Miller are the way to go...
http://convergencechurch.blogspot.com/
And could someone please explain to me how you insert links within a comment? I don't get it.
Despite constant and continual efforts to convince the powers that be to incorporate a 2 Kings, Elisha/bear reference into our logo, or at the very least a giant mural in the youth dept. depicting same, my efforts have to date been unsuccessful.
My church just uses a worship eagle which doesn't score any points, which is just a shame. Here are some I found which score big time:
Example 1
dove with olive branch - 2 points
globe - 1 point
jesus fish - 2 points
human hands double high fiving a dove - how many points for that?? I think at least 5.
I make that 10 points.
Example 2
dove with olive branch (I think) - 2 points
big globe - 1 point
open bible - 1 point
jesus fish x14 - 28 points
I make that 32 points!
Example 3
No score. But they deserve some points for creating a logo that looks like a headless yeti.
I think your final scripture reference is from The Message.
We got a 0 - but have a long name - so I see some possibilities...
we not only got a zero, we probably lost points for using a celtic knot....
Aw, snap. We used to have a globe...but we changed the logo. That gets us a big fat goose egg. BUT, I was told our new logo was modeled after a chicken restaurant in the south...our pastor is from Louisiana and came to Indiana to plant the church. I don't even know the name of the restaurant. I only wish it was Chik-Fil-A because that would have to be worth 1,000 points. If anyone wants to look at the website and tell me which restaurant it is, I will owe you gratitute and a big bag o' Skittles.
www.healingpointe.com
Katdish, I'm with you. I can't do links..argh.
I went back over the last four churches I've attended (I'm not one of those church hoppin' heathen, I just move a lot) and every single one of them scored zero. But now I'm tempted to do a drive-by church-scoring tour of my town.
My church actually made a cross inside an uppercase "G"...which stands for Grace...
...but everyone knows the only true big G is God. He's the original big G.
(This comment has been brought to you by the letter G.)
P.S., Beth, Your church's logo is modeled after Raising Cane's restaurant.
Raising Cane's
I'll gladly claim that bag of God's promise candy, aka Skittles.
To Beth,
Your Pastor is cool -- that logo is from Raising Cane's. The only thing you can get there is chicken fingers, fries and toast -- and delicious sweet tea.
Check out the web site at www.raisingcanes.com. Oh, and so you know, that's a euphemism down here for starting trouble.
What's your pastor's name? Which church did he come from?
Kristan -- in Louisiana
My church got an 87... but that was after I was done doodling on the bulletin all service! LOL
What?
No points for globes?
Outrageous!
Curtis and Kristan,
Thanks!! I will send you BOTH skittles if you email me an address. I promise not to TP your yard. And yes, our pastor is rather cool. He'd have to be, coming from a church named Eagle Heights....
My Church scored a big fat 0.....
We posted a zero as well but since I am the one who designed it and having come under great conviction, I worked up a quick redesign. It should should bring us up to 15 pts.
Check it out here
My church scores a zero as well. What is Christianity coming to!
Did anyone think of what points the picture of Jesus gets, especially the Jesus looking like Charles Manson without the swastikas?
Can't we get the gimme point for following the "t law"? Also, if I could get a point for having worshipful looking stick people in the logo, we'd be up to 2. Please?
We have an olive branch but no dove. But the church is in a town called Olive Branch.
We get a zero as well. But we have a star-- can we get points if we pretend it is the star of Bethlehem?
With a little work, I've put together this 44-point logo if my count is correct. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a little gaudy.
Take a look here.
Wow! That is worse than mine. I guess that proves the point, the higher the score the gaudier the logo.
I took a stab at G.P.L.T.H.N.R.E. Church's logo
Can we discuss churches using terrible fonts and clipart on this site, or should I refer all of that righteous anger to Church Marketing Sucks?
P.S., I have no idea how many points that merits.
P.P.S., That is the second p.s. I've used in a comment today.
We follow the T law. We get 1 point for the flame. We also get 40 bonus points because our logo points out that we're
aCross from the park
Location, baby. It's all about location.
Curtis-
Most amazing! With a logo like that, I would so go to GTLPHRNE!
That would be GPLTHNRE. Oops!
Martdy - Example # 3. Headless Yeti! Now that's funny!
Sigh, we got a 0 :(. I had such high hopes too... ;)
I got nuthin'! Our church logo looks more like a surf apparel logo.
Our chuirch doesn't even have a logo.
I go to two churches and collectively they score 0. Infidels.
Well, see, you never gave a point value for a cross in the logo. Without a point value for that, we have 0, but we have a stinkin huge cross in our logo, so I think that gets us at least 5.
Out of place comment here, I'm just catching up after a few days out of town. A fair number of folks have commented recently about missing 97 Seconds With God. Perhaps you might consider asking readers for appropriate submissions. Never know what we might come up with. You might end up with some postable content.
Do you get bonus points if your weekly meeting is on Sondays?
Laughing out loud ... mostly at this:
"where at least two Christian symbols are gathered in a logo, there also will I be"
We go to "Port au Prince Fellowship" and we have no signage and no bulletins and no logo ... we use a building that belongs to a school and we also scored the big Zero. Sad. I am going to see what we can do about getting a lion and a lamb painted somewhere on the truck that the Pastor drives ... he carries half the congregation to church in the back so that would serve as excellent promotion of the church.
Our church just got a new logo, so you should have posted this sooner. We scored 1...for having an open Bible. My (pastor) husband shot down the idea of adding text to the page...alas, that could have scored us 2 more points if we used John 3:16.
before our church decided to become more culturally relevant, our logo had a cross for a T. it's still on the sides of most of our vans and trailers, though.
that being said, we scored 0. i know the people in charge of design and stuff though, so maybe i can work something out..
we just piggy back our denomination's burning bush (and the bush is still living :O , with latin under it, too)
I just launched this website: www.christiangraphicdesign.org (shameless plug), and hopefully can steer some of the Body away from mundane design. I worked in secular ad agencies for quite awhile and want to build up my Christian portfolio, so if you have a poor logo you want improved, click on the contact page and send me an e-mail.
huh.
we DO have the cross-T. we have fruit--but it's pear & plum, no grapes, no wheat. no holy birdlife. no marine life. no mammals that start with L. no flames. and no, no bible, either.
holy cow.
oh--no, not that one either.
sigh.
I'm thinking you should get at least a couple points for the use of papyrus, which is obviously Jesus' favorite font.
ok, this post cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh. I think my church needs a few lessons in logos...maybe I'll refer them to you blog.
hold on: Katdish, you have a MASCOT!? You win. What church has a mascot? That is excellent.
I go to Saint Peter's Baptistolic Basilica of Holy Watered Down Dove and Lamb Stew..ards of the Celebrated Ichthusian Community Way Cathedral.
We don't do logos. We can barely afford the sign out front of our live year long manger scene and 10 Commandments theme park.
I don't think eagles and doves have 5 fingers, or talons.
What if we have a cross turning into a bridge? Surely that counts for some points!
Ok - so today I stumbled across your blog via a link on Collide Magazine's site - and the quip about Elisha's mauling bears caught my attention - then, not an hour later, one of the articles on msn.com had a headline that reads "Survivor's tale -
Teen mauled by bear: 'Mostly it was scared'" - the timing was brillant. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27276527/?GT1=43001
Ooooo....jennym....where is that 10 Commandments theme park? I want to know what the "Do not commit adultry" ride is!
Our church has a globe, but it's not blue. Does that count?
Brandon at 8:39 am...I love your 44 point logo; it's breathtaking. It totally reminds me of those emails that grandmas like to send that have an encouraging note or verse, accompanied by about 36 random pictures of Jesus, or as I like to call them, "RPOJs." Put a few more RPOJs in your logo and it'll be perfect.
beth, it isn't the ten commandments, but it IS a theme park:
http://video.newsweek.com/#?t=1562737888&l=1564607279
Hmmmm, my home church logo is 3 crosses, with the middle one being the biggest i.e. most important, so 9 points, right?
College church is a cross that wraps around a blue sphere (which could be a globe *cough*) So more points! Hurray, we're holy!
By the way, I just spent and hour reading these comments. My day is now happy :)
Speaking of the worship eagle, were you responsible for the one outside at the beginning of Catalyst? If not, you could sue.
I forwarded this to our church secretary - she laughed till she cried.
She was particularly horrified by the idea of only having the comic sans font to work with.
Big fat 0 :( Should I look for a new church?
My church has a sun rising (ok, could be setting, but I'm going with rising) behind two mountains with a stream (dare I say River of Life as Nick the Geek mentioned?) flowing in between, so although it counts for 3 points as #1, I'm thinking the ROL makes it worth more like 5 at least.
Also--driving to church yesterday I saw business named "Razzle Dazzle"! I laughed so hard when I saw that! :)
Well, I didn't realize it, but my ingenious pastor James has created a holy logo (that he linked too earlier), so I can now stay at LifePoint Thanks James.
You can see James' logo here.
I think I got some points!!! Elisha points!! We have only 33 youths on the road in our logo, so I'm sure the bears musta got the rest. Did I win??? Did I win???
And a cross made from three spikes should count for something!
www.sttimothyhudson.com
My church got a 0. But that's not a shock. The guy who I think designed our logo is really anti-cliche so there's no way he would have turned the T into a cross.
Beth? Your wording of that question was VERY interesting.
I laughed .
I wept.
I snorted.
@martdy-- Thanks for the laugh!
Jon-- I smell a new contest. Design the Stuff Christians Like logo??
My church scored a 0. Ho-hum.
You forgot the "window/stained-glass window" logo... or just the "big cross in the background" logo... or the "three crosses on a hill" logo :)
Well,
Dove with olive branch +2
Blue globe +1
including continents(got to be worth another +1)
Scripture(Jesus is the Way, John 14:6) larger than actual church name = priceless
My Church got a 0...*tear*
We could have scored a lot more especially since we are First Babtist
Oooh, I'm excited..... my church has a sun rising over a horizon, but there is no spreading light. So, I suppose I can't claim the entire 3 points but what about 2 points?
Old English typeface that is quite illegible - minus 10 points
hahahah number 9
Those all sound like some possible awesome blazer embellishments. Seriously.
LOL!
My church got a big fat 0! And I am not at all surprised, which ought to bother me, but I was just happy we didn't end up with a negative score. Is there any way we could work "Booty, God, Booty" into the two Bs in "Bible"?
Sorry if I've repeated anyone's comments. I don't have time to read them right now because I am supposed to be working (at the aforementiond church, no less!)
I wanna go to a church where the logo is a Talking Donkey. But only if the tag line is equally as catchy.
martdy's example 3 above: "headless yeti"!
that's face-cramping funny!
eh, my church scored 0, we have a palm tree...does that count? i mena, we are crying "hosanna"
Man! You totally nailed me. I've fell victim to the first rule...the "cross t's"! I REALLY enjoy your blog! Thanks for helping me through my day.
A friend of mine turned me on to this blog a few weeks ago and I've been laughing ever since. My best experience thus far was when I finished reading this post and within minutes received an email from a client asking for us to put a cross/T in one of their graphics - I have a great relationship with them so I sent them this post.
I'm sorry, but you've forgotten one of the most holy traditions in the realm of church logos. None other than the gratuitous Church Steeple iconography! I mean.. c'mon people, how else will they know it's a church if we don't show the steeple??!?!!
zero and proud
(love the site)
We do not have any of those in your list, but we do have a Lutheran Rose in our logo - how many points is that worth?
This is sooo true!
I run a Church Media company and the number of clients who INSIST on having "t law" is unbelievable.
No matter how much I try to explain branding, they don't get it!
Thanks for the laughs -- I posted a link to here on my site:
http://www.dailyscroll.net/archives/1440
Oh that is hilarious - and a tad tragic.
thankfully we score zero, but boy its funny. Surely surely that doesn't still exist????
I'm sure glad I came across this blog to set me straight. I'm ashamed to admit I've been holding my church back from the "t law." I've actually sat in several creative meetings where someone has said, "I know! Let's make the "t" into a cross!" And, forgive me, I resisted! No skittles for me. :-(
We have a cross - put it has a path leading up to it and a rising sun. So 4! Go Eden Road Community Church!
Aw dang. I just checked our church website and they changed it. Now I think we get a 1 - boo hiss!
Beat THIS one I found out on the web, you gutless logo designers!!
Hint: It's from Ambassadors of the Flame of Mercy Ministries
You won't let me show it...even more spineless. I'll go back to be a Seventh Day Agnostic for that.
A F M crest
Another local church has a butterfly sitting on a cross. I'd like to convince them to change it to a pupae hanging from one of the arms....more permanent, don't you think?
I'm from Texas. Would you like me to explain branding to them?
In God we trust, but brand all of our cows.
Uhhh...I think i win...when i got to skyline in san diego...we had the lion and the lamb together
I was laughing at this really hard until you mocked the crown of thorns. i'm sure it was all in good fun, but please respect the Cross that saved my life.
Stephy i am laughing so hard i'm crying ...
Official Score of the youth Group Logo - 1 point. Our logo is just a three color flame with the word Ignite in front of it. The font is called Illegal Edding, and looks like Graffiti. Of course, our graphics guy did change the t into a cross...
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