Cross for Cross Point Church, Newport, RI

In 2008 my family and I decided to move to Jamestown, Rhode Island. I had sold our family’s business and was officially retired. We thought living on the water would be great, and we were right!

The previous summer we had finally found a good church home after looking off and on for two summers. One of the many things I liked about Cross Point was the diversity, economically, racially, and socially. The list of the other things I like about the church goes on and on.

In June of 2008, Cross Point moved into its new facility on Rhode Island Ave just behind Newport Hospital. The next four months were spent in a major remodel of the interior and especially the sanctuary. When it was completed, the sanctuary seated just under 300 and was transformed into a modern contemporary style even though there were still stain glassed windows.

I made a proposal to the leaders of the church with a design that I thought reflected the nature of their diversity. They liked the design and gave me the go ahead to build it. The cross is actually four crosses in one. Each of the four has its own distinctive nature. The cross is made from cherry and black walnut woods. There is no stain on the wood, just varnish to show its true color and nature. It is 7’ by 3.5’. It is mounted on a wall that was originally made to house a cross of that size. It is raised about 6” off of the wall so the lighting casts shadows. Compared to the cross in Hudson, this one is much more artistic and took a lot more time to build. I first had to make this cross in oak. To the oak I mounted each matched piece of the cross and finished it with cherry banding. The final piece is the inlaid black walnut cross in the center. This took three months to complete.

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