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Some say there is meaning behind destruction of giant Jesus statue

STAFF MAP Site of the former King of Kings statue at Solid Rock Church, 904 Union Road, Monroe, OH‎.

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Staff Report Updated 4:27 PM Tuesday, June 15, 2010

HAMILTON — Jake Jacobs, director of church ministries for Princeton Pike Church of God, said his church family has offered to help Solid Rock Church officials in any way it can after the Monroe church lost its iconic King of Kings statue to a fire late Monday night, June 14.

“I know what a shrine that was to the community and also to everyone that would see it on the interstate,” he said.

Anyone who has seen the statue, he said, remembers it. For him, he said the “overwhelming response of Jesus with hands raised” causes him to want to worship and praise whenever he saw it.

“It would always speak all kinds of things,” he said, calling it a “reflection of something that just stays in your mind forever and ever.”

“What a piece of artwork that just gets your attention,” Jacobs said. “It’s something that when you see it, it’s always embedded in your mind.”

Indeed, the statue was memorable to those across the Tri-State.

It “was a landmark and it had such a good place on 75,” said Reily Twp. resident Marilyn Garner, 75. “It added to the city of Monroe.”

Said 41-year-old Oxford resident Kimberly McAllister: “When I heard about it, my first thought was ‘How am I going to find Monroe now?’ ”

Others had more dire reactions about lightning striking the statue.

“I think it’s a sign of the end of the world,” said Paul Wright, 21, of Oxford. “If lightning is going to strike God, then there’s no hope.”

Keith Lewis of Middletown showed up at the church just after 7 a.m. Tuesday with a camera in hand to take some shots of the remains. His wife, Stephanie, sent him.

“It has been a landmark in this area for a long time,” Lewis said. “She said she wanted picture of what was left.”

A guitarist, Lewis said he has learned to play comedian Heywood Banks’ song about the statue, “Big Butter Jesus,” and has also had his picture taking in front with his hands in the air.

Was the statue an oddity or inspiration to Lewis?

“Really a little of both,” he said, noting he doesn’t believe the nicknames were meant with any disrespect. “Kind of do hope they rebuild it.”

Church member Cassie Browning, 27, of Dayton, said she was driving north on I-75 on her way back from Tennessee when she and her family saw smoke and noticed the statue missing. “It meant so much to so many people,” Browning said. “The statue can be destroyed and gone, but Jesus can’t be.”

'King of Kings' stats

The statue of Jesus at Solid Rock Church in Monroe was 62 feet tall and weighed 8 tons.
The statue was erected starting in June 2004.
Nashville artist and Dayton native Brad Coriell designed the statue. Sculptor James Lynch of Florida built it.
Lawrence and Darlene Bishop, evangelical Christian pastors of the Solid Rock Church, spent $250,000 on the project.
The statue’s steel frame was built in Lebanon, Ohio. The body, made of Styrofoam and fiberglass, was fabricated at Lynch’s studio in Florida.
The statue was trucked in pieces to Monroe. The breaks were at 13 feet, which is the height of Lynch’s studio.
Comedian Heywood Banks immortalized the statue in his novelty song, “Big Butter.”

— Dave Larsen, Staff writer

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