The three-year long project of the Corpus Christi Cross, is finally underway.
After raising $40,000 for a light beam, the cross site will be lit up with a beam shooting straight into the sky. There will be a lighting ceremony tonight at 7 p.m. to commemorate the start of the construction phase.
Project Manager and Pastor, Richard Milby says that the light will shoot 1,500 ft into the sky and should be seen from 12 miles away. “This light will come on every night at dusk, and go off at 11 o’clock. It will come on every morning at 5:30 and go off at dawn.”
He says the next phase, will be to start the construction of the cross itself. Starting out with a 52-foot section, then the light will be lit on top of that section. The cross will be complete in five sections, with the light moving up after each section.
However, Milby says because of funding he’s not sure if it will be complete in a year or 6 months. The cross will still need another 1.5 million to complete. Milby says that’s $400,000 more than the original cost because the price of steel has increased so much.
The Corpus Christi Cross site also features a chapel, that will be available during the lighting ceremony. As well as, a nativity scene year-round, a replica of the Garden Tomb from Israel, and a baptismal pool. The entire site will show the life, from birth to resurrection, of Jesus Christ.
When the cross is complete, it will be 230 feet tall, the second largest cross in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Milby says when the cross is complete that it will be lit up throughout the entire night.
The lighting ceremony begins at 7 p.m. at the Corpus Christi Cross site off of I-37 and Carbon Plant Rd.
300-400 people are expected to be there, including 7 different churches. It is open to the public.
For more information and donations: corpuschristicross.com
