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We are so pleased to report, that through the grace of God, we at Bald Eagle
 United Presbyterian have been able to make and give away over 800 crosses! We also have sent requested crosses to over 11 states and have assisted 14 churches in those states to make this project. This is as of August 2011, and the requests continue to come in! If you would like a cross, please email us and we will be happy to provide one for you.Our Story In early winter of 2010 our pastor, Susan Champion, received an email forwarded from a woman driving through a small town in Michigan. She was impressed by the number of small white crosses in the yards of many of the residents. A shortened version of the story was that the Christian Foundation was sending a quiet message in favor of Christianity to atheists that lived there. The woman was comforted by the display of white crosses and commented that “it would be a beautiful thing to see crosses all across America”.
Well, we accepted that “challenge”. For those wanting to take on this project, and we greatly encourage you to so, we have help for you. Our crosses are 2 – 2.5 ft. high, 1 ft. wide and the wood pieces are 1.5” square. The bottoms are pointed so they can be placed in the ground easily. We put 2 coats of white exterior paint on each one. The tags can be made on the computer using business cards. We “advertised” by asking newspapers, radio and TV stations in the area to promote our endeavor. All responded quickly and told our story. We have had a lot of fun with this project and we’re hoping that this quiet statement of faith will spread across our great country. We are a small congregation whose ideas are not limited by our size. We would love for others to take this project as your own and help ensure that this statement of faith truly does “Cross the Country”! If you have questions not answered here or want to let us know that you have adopted this project, which we encourage, please email or call us. |
We organized a group of church members willing to paint, found a “handy” man or two willing to make the crosses and got busy. Pastor Susan wanted 500 crosses to start wanted them to be given out starting Ash Wednesday, March 9th. The crosses were made using a template and the wood was donated. We painted at the church several times a week, standing them against chairs to dry! We named our project “Cross the Country” and made tags explaining our project. We used hemp rope to tie the tags on the crosses. In order to get the project across the country, we mailed as many as we could to friends or relatives in other states. The rest will be handed out on Ash Wednesday from our church to residents that request them.
