First published April 10, 2021.
The church signs that keep going viral from Milwaukie, Oregon, come from Clackamas United Church of Christ, a small progressive congregation led by Pastor Adam Ericksen. Its roadside message board has carried lines such as "Kind atheists are closer to Jesus than mean Christians", a blessing for LGBTQ people and a reminder that the church reads the Bible seriously but not always literally. Photos of the signs, shared on the church's Instagram and Facebook pages, have travelled far beyond the Portland suburbs.
Below are the best-known messages, the story of the pastor behind them, the church tradition they come from, and why some people love them while others see them as too political for a church lawn.
The signs that got people talking
The message in the photo above is the one most people remember. On the sign itself it is credited to Matthew Distefano, an author and podcaster who writes about progressive Christianity. The line works because it turns a familiar complaint around: instead of asking whether someone holds the right beliefs, it asks how they treat other people.
A post shared by Clackamas United Church Christ (@clackamasucc)
Another widely shared board borrowed the shape of the Beatitudes, the blessings Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, and applied it to LGBTQ people, calling them siblings and saying the Kingdom belongs to them. For many gay and transgender Christians who grew up hearing that faith had no place for them, seeing that wording outside a church was the point.
A post shared by Clackamas United Church Christ (@clackamasucc)
A third message summed up the congregation's approach to scripture: take it seriously, but do not assume every passage must be read literally. That idea has a long history in mainline Protestant churches, which generally read the Bible with attention to history, genre and context.
A post shared by Clackamas United Church Christ (@clackamasucc)
The church has also used the board to quote public figures. Reports at the time mentioned lines from Martin Luther King Jr. and the climate activist Greta Thunberg. In 2019, CNN described signs that condemned white supremacy, backed putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill and, as restrictive "heartbeat" abortion bills spread through several states, pointed out that transgender people have heartbeats too.
The pastor behind the message board
Adam Ericksen became pastor at Clackamas UCC around late 2017. In a 2019 interview with CNN, he said regular Sunday attendance had been about 30 people when he arrived and had grown to around 50 or 60.
He told Bored Panda that he realised neighbours could see the church building but had no idea what its members believed. The congregation raised money for a new sign, and he began writing messages, usually drawn from his sermons or from the week's news. Drivers started stopping to thank him. He had not expected the signs to have an online life as well; one Facebook post passed 10,000 shares.
Asked why he leans into issues that some consider political, Ericksen points to the Gospels themselves. "Jesus was most critical of those who used religion as an excuse to marginalize others," he told Bored Panda. He has described his goal as joining a wider movement that recentres Christianity on God's love for everyone, especially people pushed to the margins. CNN reported that his inclusive reading of the Bible was shaped in part by watching his mother's faith during her cancer diagnosis.
What the United Church of Christ believes
Clackamas UCC belongs to the United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination formed in 1957 through a merger of Congregational, Evangelical and Reformed churches. Its motto, "That they may all be one", comes from John 17:21. Each local congregation governs itself, which is why styles can vary a great deal from one UCC church to the next.
The denomination has a long record of progressive stands. In 2005 its General Synod voted to support equal marriage rights, making it the first major US Christian deliberative body to do so. Many congregations describe themselves as "Open and Affirming", a formal declaration that LGBTQ people are welcome in all parts of church life. The UCC's well-known "God is still speaking" campaign, launched in 2004, built on a line often attributed to the comedian Gracie Allen about never putting a period where God has placed a comma.
Seen in that light, the Milwaukie signs are not a fringe experiment. They express mainstream positions within this denomination, delivered in a format designed for people driving past at 30 miles an hour.
Why short church signs travel so far online
Church marquees have always been a kind of public conversation, from puns to warnings about the weather. A few things help explain why these particular ones spread:
- Surprise. Many people associate American churches with conservative politics. A sign praising kind atheists cuts against that expectation, which makes people stop and share.
- Brevity. A sign has room for one idea. That forces clear, quotable language, which is ideal for a phone screen.
- A clear audience. The messages often speak directly to groups who feel shut out by religion, and those readers pass them on to friends.
- Timing. Signs that respond to the week's news ride on conversations people are already having.
Praise, pushback and the politics question
Ericksen told CNN that local criticism had been rare, though some people objected that the signs were political. That debate is worth taking seriously. Some Christians argue that a church should stay out of contested public issues so that everyone feels able to walk in, whatever their views. Others answer that silence about how people are treated is a stance too.
The church has not avoided controversy. In July 2025 it posted a sign stating that the immigration detention centre in Florida known as "Alligator Alcatraz" is in opposition to the teachings of Christ. Local TV coverage found both support and opposition among Christians. Ericksen said the message was meant to challenge believers to live out the command to love their neighbours.
Whatever readers think of the stances, the signs have done what their author intended: they have started conversations about what Christianity is for.
Making a welcome real
A sign can say who a community hopes to welcome, but visitors judge a place by what happens when they walk through the door. For churches, clubs or workplaces inspired by the Milwaukie example, a few practical steps give a public message substance:
- Say plainly on your website and noticeboards who you welcome and what to expect on a first visit.
- Make sure the people who greet newcomers know how to introduce themselves respectfully, including using the names people ask to be called.
- Leave room for questions and disagreement without making anyone feel like a project.
- Check that buildings, events and materials are accessible to people with disabilities.
That is where a slogan becomes a community, and it is the part no photo on Instagram can show.
Sources: Sign photos and posts by Clackamas United Church of Christ (@clackamasucc); Bored Panda: interview with Pastor Adam Ericksen; CNN: Oregon church's progressive signs (2019); Upworthy: the signs go viral; KATU via ABC News 4: the 2025 immigration sign; Wikipedia: United Church of Christ.
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