Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #451

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Christ Statue Removed FromSC Baptist Church For Being ‘Too Catholic,' Artist Says
By Noah Feat
Jesus Christ is being removed from a South Carolina church.
A statue of Jesus Christ and accom- panying artwork that has been dis- played at Red Bank Baptist Church for more than a decade will be taken down by Thursday, accord- ing to church offi- cials.
The art will be removed because a majority of the congregation voted that the 7-foot-tall statue and sculpt-
ed reliefs were "causing some confusion."
According to the church, many peo- ple think the sculp- tures are Catholic and not represen- tative of a Baptist church.
"We have discov- ered that there are people that view the art as Catholic in nature. We understand that this is not a Catholic icon, how- ever, people per- ceive it in these terms," said a let- ter that was signed by Dr. Jeff Wright, Red Bank's senior
pastor, and Mike Dennis, the church's Chairman of Deacons.
The letter was sent to Bert Baker Jr., the Midlands artist who hand carved the statue for the church in 2007. Baker is a former member of the Red Bank Baptist Church congrega- tion.
"I'm not interested in stirring the pot, but people not lik- ing it because it looked too Catholic is crazy, man. It's been up there for 11 years," Baker told The State on
Tuesday. "I don't agree with the let- ter, it bothers me."
Both the church's letter and a two- page response from Baker were shared on Facebook by Rhonda Davis. Like Baker, Davis is unhappy with the church's deci- sion to remove the art.
In her Facebook post, Baker called the art "a wordless story of Christ’s life, death and res- urrection." She said its removal is sad and regretful because it "insults and prejudices" another denomina- tion, which she described as "totally unbecom- ing of anyone who calls themselves a representative of Christ."
"It is both disturb- ing and sad that in a time when we are all needing to come together as brothers and sis- ters in Christ to project and reflect His love to a lost and dying world, Red Bank has decided to single out another denomination as the reason behind
the decision to avoid any real or imagined fear that they would some- how be associated with them," Davis wrote in her Facebook post.
In his letter, Baker echoed those sen- timents.
"These sculptures have been gracing the front of RBBC for 11 years and at no time then or now has anyone ever been 'con- fused' as to who Red Bank Baptist is nor has anyone ever suggested that they are 'Catholic' in nature," Baker wrote. "I am stunned that your letter both insults the intelligence of the Red Bank Community (as not intelligent enough to know that Red Bank Baptist Church is a Baptist church despite having a large sign stating as much); and, more disturb- ing, singling out the Catholic church in such a manner as to sug- gest that their denomination is deficient in theolo- gy and lacking in Christian core val- ues."
In the church's let- ter, it offered Baker the opportunity to remove the sculp- tures if he desired to keep them, adding: "The art needs to be removed by May 31, 2018."
Baker said he hopes the statue and artwork are not destroyed — but instead given to another church or sold, with money raised to support missionary work.
"I was commis- sioned to make the sculpture, and whatever they choose to do with it is their preroga- tive," Baker told The State. "I just didn't want it destroyed. I don't want to take it down personally, but I hope they find another place for it."
Baker said he knows there are other churches that have reached out about acquiring the art, but he has not heard from the church beyond the original letter.
Messages left with the church were not answered.
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