BRISTOL, Tenn. — The senior pastor of Sacred Cross Assembly of God on Volunteer Parkway saw a tangible representation of his church towering over him as crews hoisted a 107-foot cross into place.
The church took down the cross six weeks ago to refurbish it. The decision to do that was an easy one, according to Thompson. His church members had to replace bulbs every month and spent a lot of time going up and down the ladder, so the bulbs would illuminate properly.
“We wanted to give it some tender, loving care,” Thompson said. “We painted the entire cross and put new lights inside of it. We had old fluorescent lights and decided to change them out to light-emitting diode or LED bulbs, which will allow it to shine brighter at night.”
Bristol, Virginia, resident Hollyava Smith’s grandfather worked to remodel the church and first put up the giant cross in 1980. She said the cross symbolizes a bright light of hope.
Several local businesses across the area made the project a success, including Barnhart Crane & Rigging who used a Liebherr All Terrain crane for the main lift and a Grove TMS640 hydraulic truck crane to assist. Hodges Electric and Lighthouse Supply. Thompson said all were eager to help out.
“We are grateful as a church for their willingness to come out to our church and get the cross off the ground, literally,” Thompson said. “Hodges Electric wired the entire thing, took the old wiring out and put those new LED lights in. We definitely couldn’t have done it alone.”
According to the Bristol Herald Courier, Crews got started on the historic hoisting around 9 a.m. and by 11 a.m., the cross was ready to be moved from the lower parking lot to its cement stand near the church’s entrance.
“There has been a lot of man hours and time put into getting it ready from when we took it down,” Stacey said. “It feels nice to see it go back up and for people driving by to see it too.”
ZACH IRBY | BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
