The statue was 62 feet tall and weighed 8 tons.
Construction began in June 2004.
Designed by Brad Coriell Nashville artist and Dayton native.
Built by sculptor James Lynch of Florida.
Funded by Lawrence and Darlene Bishop, Solid Rock Church pastors.
The project cost $250,000.
The steel frame was built in Lebanon. The body, of Styrofoam and fiberglass, was fabricated at Lynch's studio in Florida.
The 13-foot long parts were transported by trucks to Monroe. Lynch's studio is 13 feet tall.
Immortalized by comedian Heywood Banks in his novelty song, "Big Butter Jesus."
— Dave Larsen, Staff writer
MONROE — To some it was a landmark. To others, a punchline.
The iconic 62-foot-tall “King of Kings” statue in front of Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 was both a vibrant religious symbol and a roadside distraction that elicited strong opinions.
The statue — also dubbed “Touchdown Jesus” and “Big Butter Jesus” — was destroyed Monday night, June 14, during a lightning-induced fire that caused $700,000 to it and the church’s adjacent amphitheater. Church leaders vowed Tuesday to rebuild.
“It’s such a monument. It’s like people know Monroe by the statue of Jesus,” said the Rev. Darlene Bishop, co-pastor. “It’s important that we rebuild.”
Bishop said leaders would update the 2,000 to 3,000 expected to attend the 10 a.m. Sunday services on rebuilding plans, adding the new statue would be at least as big as the original, which cost about $250,000, and fireproof.
Bishop said church leaders are not asking for donations, however, they aren’t rejecting them, either.
The statue’s destruction drew as much attention as its construction in 2004, with church officials getting calls from across the U.S. and as far away as China and Russia. People from across the region, many with cameras in hand, came Tuesday to view the charred metal skeleton that remained.
Traffic along I-75 was sluggish during the rush hour commutes as motorists slowed down or pulled off the highway. By 4 p.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol quit issuing warnings and had troopers start ticketing gawkers.
“We understand the public interest, but we have to put safety first,” said Sgt. Tracy Callahan, assistant post commander. “We have to keep people moving because it’s just too dangerous.”
Keith Lewis of Middletown arrived at the church just after 7 a.m. to take pictures for his wife, Stephanie. “She said she wanted a picture of what was left,” he said.
Duane Metcalf was among those who stopped by to say good riddance. The 50-year-old Trenton resident hopes plans to have it rebuilt are abandoned. “If it was supposed to be here, it would still be here,” he said.
News about the statue’s demise was the top search topic on Google, with a hotness rating of “On Fire;” YouTube videos of the fire were highly viewed; and thousands of Facebook and Twitter fans worldwide posted comments on the news — some regretful but many humorous or even scornful.
“Seriously, you build a giant statue of Jesus, then God strikes it w/ lightning and destroys it. Aren’t you clearly doing something wrong?” wrote ToplessRobot on his Twitter page.
Others viewed the statue fire as a bad omen. “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.”
Iconic statue draws attention from around world
By the time Rev. Darlene Bishop and her husband arrived at Solid Rock Church Monday night, June 14, the 62-foot-tall Jesus statue out front had burned to the ground.
Yet Bishop, co-pastor of the church, said her first thoughts weren’t about the devastation or rebuilding the iconic structure that has become synonymous with Monroe.
“I thought about the people that lost their homes in Nashville, the people that lost their lives in Arkansas, and the people that have lost their jobs in the Gulf (of Mexico),” Bishop said, referring to recent natural and manmade disasters. “We don’t have no problems. That’s just something that’s made out of fiberglass.”
The “King of Kings” statue, more affectionately known as “Touchdown Jesus,” was destroyed Monday night late when it caught fire around 11:15 p.m. after its right hand was struck by lightning. The fire caused $700,000 damage to the statue and adjacent Lawrence Bishop Music Theatre.
The first caller, traveling south on I-75, said “a bolt of lighting” hit the statue.
The dispatcher responded, “Jesus is on fire.”
One male caller said, “I swear to God, this is not a prank … I am serious. I just saw it get struck by lighting.” The dispatcher reassured, stating, “I believe you.”
The man said, “I know it’s not funny, but literally his one hand is on fire.”
Bishop said church leaders would rebuild the statue, possibly bigger, and definitely fireproof. The amphitheater, statue and surrounding area had lightning resisters and grounding rods to dispense lightning into the ground, but for some reason they did not work, said Monroe Fire Chief Mark Neu.
Bishop said she knew people would have strong opinions in the wake of the fire.
“I knew that there would be a lot of critics that would say, 'Oh, Jesus didn’t like it and that’s why he done this,” Bishop said. “But (the statue) has weathered a lot of storms in the last seven years.”
While Bishop anticipated criticism, the outpouring of support was another matter.
A pastor from South Africa and media from as far away as Canada, China and Russia all contacted Solid Rock Church on Tuesday to find out its plans for rebuilding the statue.
“Several pastors have e-mailed me, called me, texted me all morning. We’ve had them from Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and from Georgia. I speak all over the world so a lot of churches are familiar with our church,” Bishop said.
She said people also are calling to pass along their condolences and let the church know they intend to make a donation toward the rebuilding of the King of Kings statue located on the 60-acre church campus off Ohio 63 on Union Road in Warren County.
“We’re not encouraging people to do it, but we’re not rejecting it,” Bishop said.
“Everybody wants to know what we’re going to do. Everybody saying we’re sorry and are you going to rebuild.”
She said the church plans to rebuild the statue built on the beaches of Jacksonville, Fla., and trucked to Monroe in 2004 at a cost of $250,000.
The popular statue is insured, but what it will cost to rebuild with fireproof materials is not known, said Bishop, who hopes to have it completed this year.
The loss devastated those who took inspiration from the image. Among them was Jake Jacobs, director of church ministries for Princeton Pike Church of God in Liberty Twp.
“What a shrine that was to the community and also to everyone that would see it on the interstate,” he said. The “overwhelming response of Jesus with hands raised” causes him to want to worship and praise whenever he saw it, he said.
Monroe Councilwoman Anna Hale said “it’s really tragic” the statue was destroyed. “Its kind of a logo for Monroe. It symbolizes so much. It makes people go by and think about things,” she said.
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?’ ”
Steve Bell, 51, of Lebanon, doesn’t like all the talk the statue has generated.
“All it did was cause people to make fun of Jesus,” he said. “If you are a Christian you can bring someone to Christ. You don’t need a 62-foot tall idol.”
Bishop said the statue was built to let people know that Solid Rock is a church.
“A lot of people would come to the church and they would say is this a church or synagogue or is this a mosque, what is this?” she said.
“People didn’t really know what we did or what we represented. Of course we’re a non-denominational church, but we wanted them to know that the center of everything that we do is Jesus. So that is the reason we put Him out there.”
Bishop said half of the church’s visitors say they come to the church because they have seen the Jesus statue while traveling along I-75.
“We have tour buses that come in there just every few days and hundreds of cars pass through there every week just to come look at the statue. So it’s brought us more advertisement that we could have ever paid for,” she said. “Jesus knows how to get it for us and get it for us free.”
Staff Writers Tiffany Y. Latta, Rick McCrabb, Amelia Robinson and Eric Schwartzberg contributed to this report.
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