Touchdown Jesus

Sad news from Ohio in the United States that a 62 foot tall statue of Jesus has been struck by lightning and burnt to the ground on Monday night. The statue King of Kings was set at the head of the baptismal pool of the Solid Rock Church near Monroe, Ohio. Solid Rock is a 4000+ strong ‘mega-church’ and the statue had, not surprisingly, become a well known land mark along Interstate 75.

Depicting Jesus from the chest up with his arms and head raised to the sky, the statue had become known as ‘Touchdown Jesus’ because it looked like Jesus was trying to catch a football. It was  designed by Brad Coriel, sculpted by James Lynch, and assembled by Mark Mitten. Constructed on a metal frame using styrofoam covered by a thin skin of fibreglass, it was completed in September 2004 at a cost of $250,000, which was financed from earmarked donations and not from the general funds of the church.

Solid Rock Church was founded by Lawrence Bishop and the six story high statue was the idea of his wife Darlene. Bishop explained that the statue was intended not to impress but to be a sign of hope and salvation. Whatever you think of the statue it does seem a shame to have lost such a striking landmark; though I can’t help thinking that with hindsight styrofoam and fibreglass may not have been the wisest choices of construction material.