By Hillary Asbury –

I have yet to encounter a single church body that does not utilize a logo or image of some kind to represent them. It may be a simple cross or dove, perhaps just a square of color overlaid with the church’s name. But there it is, a symbol of the church’s identity; it communicates their heart and mission, who they are as a congregation, how they want to be seen by the world. It’s a big task for a small piece of art, but its value is unmistakable.

A church logo does what all liturgical art should do: it speaks the gospel. It might even be a church’s first chance to do so which makes it a pretty important part of community outreach. Often, it is the first thing a person sees when encountering a church for the first time, whether they stumble upon a website or walk onto a church campus.

Its important to think about these things, to consider how we use our art to communicate. I find it encouraging that churches are demonstrating that they see worth in the visual representation of scripture. Whether they are on board with hiring original liturgical art or not, on some level they can see that speaking the gospel in visual terms is valuable.