Lexington, SC (WLTX) - A Lexington county church is under scrutiny after its decision to remove a statue of Jesus that's been on the front of the church for 11 years.
According to a Facebook post by the wife of the artist that created the statue, there's concern about the decision to remove the statue.
She says she feels that Red Bank Baptist Church singled out another denomination as the reason behind taking the sculpture down and that it "insults the intelligence of an entire community."
Dr. Jeff Wright, the pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church, explained that the church as a whole voted to remove the statue.
The church is currently going through renovations and upgrades and there have been questions from first-time visitors, who previously went to catholic churches. The visitors explained that it reminded them of Catholicism.
As to not cause any confusion or hinder the message of the church, the pastor asked the congregation to vote on removing the statue. During a Sunday service the congregation voted 131-40 to remove the statue.
Originally the statue was commissioned by the senior adult women's class back in 2007. Bert Baker, the artist, was a member of the church at the time and created the statue depicting the birth of Jesus all the way to his crucifixion and resurrection.
"There was no malice in the creation of the art and no malice in taking it down," says Dr. Wright. "We are just a church in transition."
The church does not know when they will be able to remove the statue because they want to make sure that the art is preserved. Dr. Wright says they could possibly give it to another church once removed.