Artist’s Statement

Perhaps more than anything else, this sculpture is a tribute to the good providence of God toward me and His people. Let me explain.

Almost a year before talking with St. John’s about this sculpture, God moved the heart of a woman I had never met to buy one of my sculptures in an art show at a Lutheran church in Kirkwood, Missouri. Then, God moved that same woman to call me up and almost on a whim to ask me if I had any interest in making a sculpture with some old pipe organ pipes they had on hand in a church they were revitalizing in the city of St. Louis. I happily agreed to consider the project, and the result is what you see in my sculpture Kerusso . This project prepared me for the St. John’s project which, as you read below, God would bring to me afterward. It prepared me because both were similar in theme and materials.

While all this was happening, the Lord was moving in the heart of my art agent, and in the heart of St. John’s Music Director. [They “just happened” to go to the same church.] Through a series of events I can not fully recount, the three of us connected and talked about doing a sculpture for St. John’s music room.

Perhaps the most interesting twist of providence was that while all this was going on, a dear woman and longtime member of St. John’s had donated some old pipe organ pipes to the church with the request that something useful be done with them. These pipes were some of the actual pipes that were in use in St. John’s old (and now defunct) sanctuary – the very sanctuary this woman and her son worshipped in in years past. Since that old sanctuary had been replaced by a newer one, these pipes were given to her and then sat in her basement for years. Upon her telling of the story, her son often suggested she do something useful with the pipes. Thus, at the will of God’s providence, she delivered them back to the church from whence they came – St. John’s Lutheran – with the hope that they’d be put to good use.

It amazes me that in His providence, God would bring together all these elements to allow me to make this pipe organ pipe cross sculpture for St. John’s Lutheran Church. Besides the creative aspect of this project, I marvel at God’s goodness and timing in orchestrating such a string of events that would lead up to the commissioning of this piece.

This sculpture would represent the largest physical work I’d undertaken to date. I began by bringing the pipes to the studio and started trying out various layouts using as many of them as I could. I wanted to be sure and incorporate both the metal and wood pipes, for I’d discovered with the Kerusso sculpture that that combination looked good. I finally settled on a design and began working. Once again, I found that I’d learned a lot about the structural needs of such a sculpture from Kerusso. So, instead of making this a single rigid piece/cross, I crafted it in 4 separate sections. I also made the largest pipes detachable for ease of transport and installation. The lighting was chosen and installed with utmost care, ensuring maximum effect and most efficient design – not to mention ease of replacement or repair. In other words, a ton of engineering went into this sculpture!

All the pipes used in this cross are original pipes from St. John’s original sanctuary. The cross speaks a similar message as her sister sculpture, Kerusso. The slight variation is that this work was installed in a music room at St. John’s where the mission and activity would be directly focused on making music to the Lord. Of course, a sculpture made of pipe organ pipes is a perfect fit for such an environment! And to cap off the message and tie it all together, St. John’s Music Director and I chose the Scripture verse which would be carved into the center ingot for the sculpture, “Sing and make music to the Lord.” These words appear in many places in the Scriptures, including Judges 5:3, Psalms 27:6, 57:7, 87:7, 108:1, 144:9, 147:7, and Ephesians 5:19.