COLUMBUS, Ind. — The cross atop the soaring 192-foot-tall spire at the former North Christian Church in Columbus is set to come down next week, another step in the landmark’s transition to its future use as a public library facility.
Bartholomew County Public Library director Jason Hatton confirmed that the cross will be removed on Tuesday. The library took ownership of the building and grounds earlier this year.
“At the end of the day, we can’t have a Christian cross on top of a public library,” Hatton said. “… It is a public building for everyone in the community, and having the cross on the building does not promote that. … We need to be open and welcoming to everyone.”
Hatton said as part of the agreement to transfer ownership of the former North Christian property to the library, the former congregation’s governing body retained ownership of the cross if it was removed. That body agreed to donate the cross to Camp Bedford in Lawrence County, a retreat facility of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination.
“Camp Bedford was excited to take it,” Hatton said.
After the cross is removed, the spire will be topped by a lead-coated copper cap to protect it from the elements, he said.
But not everyone is pleased with the pending removal of the religious symbol.
Jim Byrd, 83, was chair of elders and worship leader at North Christian when the congregation dissolved, holding its final service in July 2022. The congregation worked with local groups including the Heritage Fund and Columbus Capital Foundation toward donating the property to the library.
But Byrd said he believed that the cross would remain on the building that is listed on that National Register of Historic Places. He said he was troubled when he heard in recent days that the cross will be removed.
For people coming into Columbus on U.S. 31, he said, “The first thing they see is that cross. … It’s breaking my heart to think that in Columbus, we would allow that to happen.
“…. I think the community should rise up and save the cross,” Byrd said.
Hatton said he “100 percent” understands why people might be upset by the removal of the cross that has stood over the church since the 1960s, crowning one of the area’s most recognizable landmarks. But he said the library had no choice under the law if the building is to serve the public.
Byrd’s daughter, Kim Asher, is a member of a different congregation but had attended services at North Christian. She said it’s also troubling to her that a piece of a protected historic landmark is being removed. There’s no getting around the building’s legacy as a church, she said.
“If you’re going to have a problem with that, you’re probably not going to go there anyway,” Asher said of the building’s future use as a library facility.
Byrd and Asher said they have spoken to other local faith leaders who are troubled by plans to removal of the cross. They noted that the late Columbus icon J. Irwin Miller, a founder of North Christian congregation, commissioned the structure, including the spire and cross designed by noted Modernist architect Eero Saarinen.
Earlier this year, when the library board agreed to accept the donation of the building, it did so after months of study around the unique challenges and expenses that will come with maintaining the former church and grounds. But in accepting the donation, the library also saw a means to meet its significant need for additional space.
Hatton said the removal of the cross is not a commentary on faith or religion and should not be construed as such. It simply reflects a change in the use of a structure.
“Since the building is no longer a church, then the cross simply becomes a piece of art,” Hatton said. “However, to me as a Christian, and I believe other Christians, the cross is much more than that and shouldn’t be relegated to simply an architectural adornment.”
“… The spire is still there,” he said, “And that’s a very important part of what makes that building the building that it is. … One of the purposes of religion and Christianity, it’s looking for a higher knowledge. There’s a lot for that to be said of the library, too.”
