WATCH THIS SPACE
The display board at the Anglican Church on the corner of McCallum and Splatt Streets is about to experience a new life.
The first sign was erected 30 years ago and carried the cryptic message:-
‘CH—CH .. What is missing? UR’ but that first sign has a long and interesting history.
The concept of ‘church promotion’ or ‘wayside pulpit signs’ as they are now referred was the brain-child of Wayne Lewis, a member of the Church of Christ congregation in Mt Waverley. Over a series of years, as his personal contribution to the community, Wayne produced over 80 interchangeable hoarding signs, all 6’ x 4’ in size, spreading the Church’s commentary and a ‘quotation for the day’ initially addressed to the young families of the then recently settled suburbs of Forrest Hill and Mt Waverley
Wayne was not a sign-writer by calling and in some ways his art was ‘naive’, or amateurish, but his messages gained the attention of many. Signs created by Wayne were loaned to congregations throughout Victoria using a library exchange program which he carefully managed.
Not all were as controversial as the black and white sign exhibited in Swam Hill when, over an AFL Grand Final, the Rector of the day, Fr Max Bowers, hung one announcing ‘Collingwood and Jesus Christ – BOTH WINNERS’, but the signs certainly did create a community impact.
As a relatively young man Wayne suffered a massive coronary attack in the mid-1990s and with his passing in 2009, the program lost impetus and gradually the changing messages ceased to be a feature of Church notice boards.
Fortunately for Swan Hill the cachet of those 80 signs has been located by past residents Robin Poole and Jim Mitchell and they will form the nucleus of a new library of ‘quotation for the day’ on the corner of Splatt and McCallum Streets.
Watch this space!
Jim Mitchell
The display board at the Anglican Church on the corner of McCallum and Splatt Streets is about to experience a new life.
The first sign was erected 30 years ago and carried the cryptic message:-
‘CH—CH .. What is missing? UR’ but that first sign has a long and interesting history.
The concept of ‘church promotion’ or ‘wayside pulpit signs’ as they are now referred was the brain-child of Wayne Lewis, a member of the Church of Christ congregation in Mt Waverley. Over a series of years, as his personal contribution to the community, Wayne produced over 80 interchangeable hoarding signs, all 6’ x 4’ in size, spreading the Church’s commentary and a ‘quotation for the day’ initially addressed to the young families of the then recently settled suburbs of Forrest Hill and Mt Waverley
Wayne was not a sign-writer by calling and in some ways his art was ‘naive’, or amateurish, but his messages gained the attention of many. Signs created by Wayne were loaned to congregations throughout Victoria using a library exchange program which he carefully managed.
Not all were as controversial as the black and white sign exhibited in Swam Hill when, over an AFL Grand Final, the Rector of the day, Fr Max Bowers, hung one announcing ‘Collingwood and Jesus Christ – BOTH WINNERS’, but the signs certainly did create a community impact.
As a relatively young man Wayne suffered a massive coronary attack in the mid-1990s and with his passing in 2009, the program lost impetus and gradually the changing messages ceased to be a feature of Church notice boards.
Fortunately for Swan Hill the cachet of those 80 signs has been located by past residents Robin Poole and Jim Mitchell and they will form the nucleus of a new library of ‘quotation for the day’ on the corner of Splatt and McCallum Streets.
Watch this space!
Jim Mitchell