The 1960s sculpture of Christ is made of coal dust and resin
Posted on 01/08/2009 11:46:31 AM PST by NYer
A large sculpture of Christ on the cross has been removed from outside a church in West Sussex after its vicar said it was "scaring young children".
The Reverend Ewen Souter said the 10ft crucifix was "a horrifying depiction of pain and suffering" which was also "putting people off".
The sculpture, located at the side of St John's Church in Broadbridge Heath, has now been given to Horsham Museum. It will be replaced with a new stainless steel cross. In a survey carried out by the church, every comment about the sculpture was negative.
'Sense of hope'
Mr Souter said: "Children have commented on how scary they find it and how off-putting they find it as a symbol outside the church.
"As a key exterior symbol for us it was putting people off rather than having a sense of hope and life and the power of the resurrection."
He said rather than undermining the work of the cross, the church wanted to portray "an accurate biblical picture of the crucifixion as a moment of hopefulness for the world, and not one of despair".
The sculpture was designed in the 1960s by former Royal Society of British Sculptors president, Edward Bainbridge Copnall, and made out of coal dust and resin.
It was removed from the church just before Christmas and will be mounted on a large wall in the grounds of Horsham Museum.
Jeremy Knight, curator, said the powerful image portrayed by the figure was that of Christ in pain.
"That today isn't an image which a lot of churches want to follow. They'd much rather see an empty cross where Christ has risen," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Ugly ... perhaps; scary ... absolutely not! Humbling would be a more apt description. It was our sins He bore.
We’re given up on the Catholic Church. We went to xmas mass and all these people were there, but the church is new and soulless. i told hubby half way thru “were done here. new years resolution is find a new church”
we’re tyring the small lutheran church in town. it will crush the families, but this catholic church is just all wrong.
but then again, i remember midnight mass in latin and i loved it as a kid!
Column One: The 'realist' fantasy -
On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion.
Do you still love it? There are still places that offer it, and with the added benefit of not leaving the Catholic Church.
Try the SSPX Latin masses.
We worship God, not a church. Over the years, I have visited some Catholic Churches that were at both ends of the spectrum from ultra flamboyant to blank walled but NEVER did it ever cross my mind to leave the Catholic Church. I looked around, visited other Catholic Churches and eventually found a wonderful Maronite (Eastern) Catholic Church.
Why would you want to leave the Catholic Church over a building?
The piece is classic 60s junk art, with the random distortions of the human figure that went along with that. Badly executed, badly designed.
But he went in the wrong direction entirely. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is stupid and theologically unsound, in this case.
He should replace it with a carved or cast crucifix with a more conventional depiction.
Now, if you want to see truly SCARY, then take a look at the Isenheim Altarpiece:
Grünewald painted it for a leper hospital in Germany. I have seen it in person, and it will drive you to your knees.
In compensation, an outer wing includes a most beautiful and original conception of the Resurrection:
The buildings themselves grew - no big deal. The minister (now senior minister) is still there - which is a very big deal for us. (Otherwise I probably wouldnt have gone back there to begin with.) But the service itself is different - the biggest noticable difference being the "contemporarization" of traditional hymns and the large amount of contemporary (modern) Christian music as compared to our younger days.
My wife and I enjoy the "traditional" aspects of the old service as we believe that helped bond the generations together in our former services.
Well, it is ugly. We have a spectral, floating “resurrected Jesus” from the same time that is also very ugly and a little creepy looking. It was a bad period for religious art.
Get a new crucifix, perhaps, but don’t replace it with one of those neutral, symbolic things Protestants have used for years.
We left the Episcopal Church not because our church building was modern (it was, and it was ugly, but we put up with it for 28 years) but because the denomination fell into rank heresy. We LOVE our Catholic parish. But we had to visit around to find the one in which we felt most at home.
If you love the Latin Mass, find a Motu Proprio parish. They are starting up almost everywhere (my daughter found one in Charlotte NC). I wouldn't recommend SSPX because they come with all sorts of other baggage . . . .
Our sins, indeed. The scandal of the crucifixion is too much for the modern Church of England to bear. (Sadly, many Catholic Churches have minimized the crucifix as well.) Of course, many so-called Anglicans also deny the Resurrection. Talk about wasting a “teachable” moment.
But our choirmaster says (and I really do agree) that we have to throw the old hippies an occasional bone, and the hymns are the least offensive place to do it. Our motets and anthems are 100% straight up traditional - even when modern in date they are traditional in form - and we do lots of Gregorian chant and we chant the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin on First Sundays.
We will gradually phase out the tacky hymns and hope the hippies can get used to it.
Catholic music is a problem in many parishes, and has been since the wholesale jettisoning of tradition after VCII. But the good stuff is making a comeback. As I noted above, you have to shop around a little.
It's floating and it's spectral, but it's early 16th century and, I think, very effective. Especially when contrasted with the horrific Crucifixion.
thank you! i think our kids are interested, because they know grandparents and great-grandparents (when they were alive) talking of the latin mass.
the link is wonderful. there is one an hour away but it may be worth the drive!
Find a LCMS or Wisconsin Synod Lutheran church. ELCA churches are very liberal.
I’m glad I could help. :-)
There was a movie out awhile back, where the church decided to get rid of the crucifix because of the same reason, it was too depressing. My mom told me that was so stupidand that no church would ever do that.
Isn’t there another Catholic Church nearby that you could try before throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Or have you tried talking to the bishop about the church you were attending?
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