Touchdown Jesus at Solid Rock Church Destroyed
By Soumitra Mondal, Gaea News NetworkTuesday, June 15, 2010
San Francisco (GaeaTimes.com) Lightening and a subsequent fireball yesterday night has apparently destroyed a Statue of King of Kings at Solid Rock Church which is located on the east side of Interstate 75. The statue, popularly known as Touchdown Jesus, was 62 feet or about 19 m tall statue of Jesus with arms stretched towards the skies. Only the plastic foam and the charred frame of the fiberglass statue are visible this morning, as reported.
The Solid Rock Church is a Christian Megachurch near Monroe, Ohio. It has over four thousand members, as reported. The statue of Jesus was set at the head of a baptism pool. Touchdown Jesus, also known as Big Butter Jesus for its buttery color, was erected in 2004. There are fountains and colored lights beside the giant Jesus Statue. It is located on the Interstate facing side of the church’s outdoor amphitheater. The Touchdown Jesus has been a Butler County landmark along the I-75.
The Touchdown Jesus was designed by Brad Coriel and is sculped by James Lynch. Mark Mitten assembled the statue constructed on a metal frame using Styrofoam covered by a thin skin of fiberglass. The styrofoam interior is flammable and it is suspected that the lightening set it ablaze midnight on June 14, 2010. The span between the upraised hands is about 42 feet or 13 meter. There is a 40 feet Christian Cross at its base. It cost approximately 250,000 and was financed from earmarked donation and not from the general finds of the church. It is reported that the pastor of the church is planning to rebuild the statue.
