Horrifying 10-foot sculpture of Jesus on the cross removed from the Church

Vicar has 'horrifying' statue of crucifixion removed from church
Resin sculpture that 'scared children and deterred worshippers' to be replaced by steel cross

Helen Pidd and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 January 2009 15.10 GMT

A statue of the crucifixion has been taken down from its perch on a church in Sussex because it was scaring local children and deterring worshippers, a vicar admitted today.

The Rev Ewen Souter, the vicar at St John's Church in Horsham, West Sussex, ordered the removal of the 10-foot sculpture of Jesus on the cross just before Christmas, branding it "unsuitable" and "a horrifying depiction of pain and suffering".

The 10ft resin sculpture, by Edward Bainbridge Copnall, a former president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, will be replaced by a more "uplifting" stainless steel cross – to the dismay of more traditional parishioners.

Souter, formerly a cell biologist, said: "The crucifix expressed suffering, torment, pain and anguish. It was a scary image, particularly for children. Parents didn't want to walk past it with their kids, because they found it so horrifying.

"It wasn't a suitable image for the outside of a church wanting to welcome worshippers. In fact, it was a real put-off.

"We're all about hope, encouragement and the joy of the Christian faith. We want to communicate good news, not bad news, so we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross."

St John's Church was opened in 1963 and the crucifix was installed within a year. The sculpture was removed unceremoniously on a low-loader truck and delivered to nearby Horsham Museum, where it will be displayed

A long-standing member of the church, who asked not to be named, said: "The crucifix is the oldest and most famous symbol of the Christian church. Pulling it down and putting up something that would look more at home on the side of a flashy modern shopping centre is not the way to get more bums on seats.

"Next they'll be ripping out the pews and putting sofas in their place, or throwing out all the Bibles and replacing them with laptops. It's just not right."

Souter, who has been vicar at St John's since 2001, believes the modern new cross – designed by artist Angela Godfrey – will present "a positive message of hope" on the side of his church.

A spokesman at Horsham Museum said: "Thanks to the generosity of St John's we have been given the remarkable sculpture of Jesus on the Cross by Edward Bainbridge Copnall. The museum was keen to have the figure because it is a stunning example of Edward's ability and skill as a sculptor.

"Being made out of coal dust and resin it represents the cutting edge of materials, as well as being a dramatic interpretation of a well-known image." source

Archbishop attacks the UK Govt. for their fiscal policies in his Christmas Message

Archbishop attacks Downing St for 'Nazi' attitude

• December 23, 2008

THE war of words between church and the British state has escalated with the Archbishop of Canterbury likening Downing Street's response to the economic downturn to that of Nazi Germany.

In a pre-Christmas article written for The Daily Telegraph, Dr Rowan Williams, the Church of England's senior cleric, argues that the Christmas message is one of unconditional love and that some of the economic principles designed to cushion the impact of the financial crisis can fail to take into account the human cost.

Quoting religious philosopher and intellectual Karl Barth, Dr Williams said the great thinker had courageously expressed open defiance against the Third Reich and, at Christmas in 1931, preached that one of the greatest freedoms was to understand that while one should be able to live with principles, it is also important to be able to "live without them".

"The 20th century built up quite a list of casualties around 'principles' in Barth's sense," he writes. "Various philosophies solemnly assured us that the human cost is really worth it, because history will vindicate the sufferings … of the present. Keep your nerve, don't be distracted by the human face of suffering, because it will be all right in the end; we know it will because the principles are clear.

"Fortunately the Western world has not for a long time seen the real horrors that this entails in terms of brutality and devastation. Yet we are not completely immune from appealing to 'principles' in order to help us avoid some of the harsher consequences of our policies and preferences."

Suggesting a comparison between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's fiscal stimulus package and the Third Reich, Dr Williams writes that the "principle" might have worked but in the end it required acceptance of the notion that "a lot of people that you might have thought mattered as human beings actually didn't".

He said the fiscal strategy failed to factor in the impact on the most vulnerable: "What about the unique concerns and crises of the pensioner whose savings have disappeared, the Woolworths employee, the hopeful young executive, let alone the helpless producer of goods in some Third-world environment where prices are determined thousands of miles away?" he asks.

In his article, he warns of the dangers of "unconditional loyalty to a system" that turned into a "nightmare" under Hitler in Germany.

Dr Williams uses the same language used by Mr Brown, arguing that without thought for these doubts about the human cost "we've lost the essential moral compass" — the same reference to a moral compass used by the Prime Minister last week.

On Friday, the Archbishop likened the British Government's policy fiscal stimulus package as a strategy similar to "an addict returning to a drug".

This sparked Mr Brown to respond in biblical terms, relating the Good Samaritan parable and insisting that the Government could not ignore the suffering of its people and just "walk by on the other side".

"The Archbishop would also agree with me that every time someone becomes unemployed or loses their home or a small business fails it is our duty to act and we should not walk by on the other side when people are facing problems," he said.

The British Government has promised to encourage spending, hiking the level of public borrowing and embarking on a record £20 billion ($A44 billion) emergency package to kick start the economy, as well as other big spending measures.

But with the number of jobless forecast to reach two million next year and the property market pushing thousands into negative equity, Dr Williams suggested that the downturn may provide a reason for the modern, Western world to rethink its obsession with accumulating material wealth.

Dr Williams' comments may be perceived as a further attack on Mr Brown's economic strategy and risk damaging the relationship between the Church and Downing Street.

"It threatens a return to the 1980s, when the Conservative Government came under fierce attack from the Church over its social policies, which were said to exclude the poor deliberately," the newspaper warned.source

repentance means getting a new perspective

Archbishop Rowan Williams welcomes credit crunch 'reality check'
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Dr Williams went on: "I would like to think that in this sort of crisis people would be reflecting more on how you develop a volunteer culture, how you develop a culture of people willing to put their services at the needs of others so that there can be a more active, a more vital civil society."

The archbishop called on the Government to give more of a lead on "how the civil society is created".

Dr Williams expressed concerns over the Prime Minister's "fiscal stimulus" package, which included cutting VAT to get the public spending again.

Questioned on whether increased spending was the right way to tackle the downturn, he said: "It seems a little bit like the addict returning to the drug.

"When the Bible uses the word 'repentance', it doesn't just mean beating your breast , it means getting a new perspective, and that is perhaps what we are shrinking away from."

The archbishop added: "It is about what is sustainable in the long term and if this is going to drive us back into the same spin, I do not think that is going to help us."

He said people should not "spend to save the economy", but instead spend for "human reasons" - to provide for their own needs. read it all