Astros postseason-run helps church sign lady with messaging
PORTER, Texas (KTRK) -- During the Astros postseason run, a congregation's sign lady has gotten creative with her messaging.
Once a week, Kelli Merritt can be found shuffling, shifting and tossing letters along Ford Street in Porter.
"It's not as hard as you would think it could be," Merritt explained. "It's just time consuming."
Keep the faith, Astros fans: Church sign hits home run everywhere
It's a process because a wrong letter could mean the job starts over.
"You just want to make sure it's actually spaced right, so people can read it," Merritt said.
Lately, she's spent extra time on spacing because her messages are catching a lot of attention.
"Church is fun," Merritt said. "Like, it can be fun!"
With the Astros in the playoffs, Merritt decided to use the team to spread her weekly message at Friendship United Methodist Church.
"I bet I can get Astros baseball to fit into the Ten Commandments theory," Merritt recalled. "Everybody said, 'I don't think so.' I proved them wrong."
Some of the messages were, "Thou shall not steal, unless it's Altuve on base," or "Love thy neighbor even if they're a Boston fan."
The messages generate a lot of honks, and likes on social media. It's an idea that's a hit with nearly everyone.
"I had one lady who said, 'That's kind of rude," Merritt recalled. "I was like, 'You must be a Boston fan. It's OK."
Merritt doesn't only look to the Bible for the messages either. She also turns to movies.
"I got to thinking when I was watching the game the other night, 'We got a problem. We got a problem.' All that kept coming to mind is Apollo 13," Merritt recalled. "I'm like, 'No, Houston doesn't have a problem. Atlanta needs to have the problem.'"
With the Astros two wins away from another championship, Merritt says she isn't sure what the next sign will be. But you can bet, she'll be outside doing her weekly shuffle when they win.
"As much as people cheer on the Astros, why can't we? Don't you think God's up there rooting for a team?" Merritt said.
Merritt isn't the original sign lady. There was another church worker that started this idea of incorporating the Astros.
She took a school job, which allowed Merritt to take over. The original sign lady is still involved though. Merritt previews the messages with her first.
So far, no complaints as the Astros church sign tradition has continued.
