"Wayfinding" is the science and art of navigation--finding your way from one place to another. Most buildings employ some kind of wayfinding system to help occupants who are seeking a specific location. Room numbering signs, directional signs, identification markers and monuments or key locators are all examples of wayfinding systems. In larger construction projects, like office buildings, shopping malls, hospitals or college campuses, wayfinding systems can be complex and expensive, designed and engineered by professionals in the wayfinding industry.

Most churches do a really lousy job at wayfinding. Because of the way many North American churches are built, as add-ons over time, sometimes many years, buildings tend to be mazes of corridors and stairwells with little rhyme or reason. Master planning for church campuses has only been employed in the last decade or two, and churches suffer from poor layout, people-traffic control, and wayfinding.

A comprehensive wayfinding system can greatly improve your congregation’s ability to not only find areas of the church campus they are seeking, but to direct guests and others to these areas as well. A clear wayfinding system can add to the accessibility and friendliness of the church buildings. Here are a few tips on wayfinding.

Focus people on buildings by labeling them. Use the example of large complexes like hospitals, college campuses and shopping malls--how do you find your way around these sometimes mammoth constructions? The buildings themselves are labeled: "Emergency Room", "Macy's", "University Center". You simply drive around the complex until you find the building you are interested in, then park nearby. This is not coincidence--wayfinding experts label buildings first to focus your attention on possible destinations. It is a natural extension of your internal "wayfinding engine".

When people approach your church campus, they will be looking at the buildings. Labeling them will give people a clear understanding of what building serves which function--more important these days because many newer churches don't have the giveaway steeple and front porch that loudly proclaims “main entrance.” And speaking of entrances, they should be clearly marked, "Main Entrance", "Office Entrance", "Preschool Entrance," etc. Again, for the newcomer, these exterior labels give immediate reference and orientation, even before they leave their automobiles.  Remember, nobody likes to park and then realize they are on the opposite side of the campus from their destination because nothing was labeled.

Avoid long directional signs that slow people down. A common wayfinding solution for churches in the laundry-list sign. At the entrance road or at a key intersection, there's a list of destinations with arrows. These signs are ineffective for several reasons. First, they slow down traffic as they take time to read and digest--instead of simply labeling the complex, you are presenting a series of choices and asking each reader to make a decision on their destination. This takes time, and slows the process of entrance and egress from your campus.

Secondly, the signs themselves must have a corresponding destination labeled. If you have a pointer that says, "Main Entrance" with an arrow, and then the main entrance is not labeled to match, you've created another decision cycle for the wayfinder. "The sign said the main entrance was this way, but it's not marked. Is that it door the entrance or not?"

Finally, most directional signs are constructed by well-meaning builders who miss one key ingredient--they are put up when the parking lot is empty. Most often the directionals are too low to the ground to be seen when the lot is full of cars. Ever tried to read a sign behind a row of minivans or SUVs?  Because of this all-to-common blunder, the directional signs will "sneak up" on drivers entering the campus, as they are often hidden behind other vehicles. The result is that the driver will either miss they key directional, or they will find it too late to make an effective decision as to where to go without stopping all the traffic behind them.

Directional signs are most useful if they offer just one choice--that is, they point to only one thing, so the choice is to either choose that destination or not. It's also best to make them much larger than you think is required--taller, maybe 8 feet or more, and with lettering that can be easily read from 100 feet or more away. Remember, with outside campus directionals, you are constructing them to be read from a car--so your reader will be moving while they are reading it. Finally, outdoor signs are most easily read from a distance if the lettering is white and the background is dark. This is the reason highway directional signs employ white lettering. For bonus points, make the lettering reflective so it can be read at night by shining headlights on it.

Divide the campus into distinct zones. One of the best wayfinding plans you can employ for a sprawling or complex church campus is to divide the campus into "zones" or areas according to function. Again, look to the shopping mall for inspiration--notice the use of "anchor" stores to orient people within the complex. "Our store is located near Sears" you might say--Sears and its surrounding stores becomes a "zone" that helps people to their destination. They can find Sears, then know their ultimate destination lies nearby. The zone approach moves people more quickly to their destination.

You may also consider gathering similar functions in the same area--like the "food court" concept, which places all the restaurants adjacent to each other so you'll never have to explain where to find "Wendy’s" versus "Chick-fil-A".  It’s obvious in a church environment to place preschool, student and senior adult ministries or classes in distinct areas. Labeling these areas and referring to them as the "Preschool Area" or "Student Wing" divides the campus into zones and helps people orient themselves to specific locations.

Use color and monuments to create bread-crumbs. Remember in wayfinding that any distinct object can serve as a marker to help people find their destination. Sometimes a sign is not required. The church steeple, different colored entry doors, a big bulletin board, a welcome desk just inside the entrance, an especially ornate archway over a door--all of these unique markers are things that people remember as they navigate your campus. They help to orient them later when they want to find their way back to something. "Oh, I remember we came in the door by the fountain."

The great thing about monuments is that they are easy to create and generally beautify the campus itself. It might be as simple as painting an accent wall and putting up a piece of unique artwork.

Make room numbers make sense. This is a pet-peeve of mine, because room numbering should be among the easiest thing to get right, but the numbering schemes in most churches are so confusing it’s a wonder Sunday School ever happens on the campus.

First, if your building has more than one story, room numbers should be three digits: the first digit for the floor, the next two for the room. All room numbers on the same level (floor) should have the same first digit. I’ve worked at two churches that were built on hills and it was possible in walking from one building to another to actually change floors without going up or down stairs. In these cases we re-numbered the building to make each level's room numbering consistent. It did mean that it was possible to enter the building on the second floor in some cases, but it was much more effective wayfinding that all the room numbers on that floor started with a "2".

Room numbers should also be set with the even numbered rooms on one side of the hall, and odd numbers on the other. Drive down your street and you'll notice every neighborhood in the United States is laid out this way--don’t mess with perfection. Never use the "zero" room number either--architecturally this is reserved for the common areas (the hallway itself). So the first room in a series should be "101" versus "100".

Develop a simple campus map. Giving people a birds-eye view of your campus can be very helpful in guiding them to understand the various buildings and their functions. A simple plan view is very useful--be sure to include it on your website and in a campus guide or publicity materials (here's an example). Don't get too complicated--identify buildings, zones and areas, and key entry and exit points. Remember, short of flying over in a helicopter, nobody who is a visitor to your campus has seen it from the air. The limited, ground-level perspective most people have when visiting your church can be very confusing. A campus map can be an effective aid for guests and members alike.

Remember, you are never the wayfinding expert. Finally, when designing a wayfinding system, remember that you can never be the expert on wayfinding if you are already familiar with your facility. If you are intimately familiar with the layout of your campus, you simply will not be able to think like a guest adequately enough to design a comprehensive wayfinding system. Hire an expert or consultant initially unfamiliar with your campus to help you--even the exercise of orienting the consultant to the campus will be revealing and help you avoid weaknesses in your wayfinding solution.

A church of even moderate size should address basic wayfinding issues. Helping people find their way physically on your campus is a precursor to helping them find their way spiritually through your on-campus ministries. After all, how can anyone really connect with your church if they can't find the front door?

About the Author. Eugene Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications and technologies. More...