Mention 'Eggbeater Jesus' and most any Huntsvillian will know what you're talking about. The glass tile mosaic that graces the front of the First Baptist Church on Governors Drive - officially, its name is 'Cosmic Christ' - has been a local icon for more than 40 years.

The church doesn't embrace or reject the mosaic's unofficial (and somewhat irreverent) nickname, said Jud Reasons, First Baptist's executive pastor. At this point, it's inescapable.

Eggbeater Jesus has its own Wikipedia page. There are memes. It's the only inanimate object listed in the book "Legendary Locals of Huntsville."

"It's on Google maps as 'Eggbeater Jesus,'" said Reasons. "I can't change it."

The mosaic, which depicts Jesus Christ surrounded by the cosmos, is 47 feet high and 154 feet long.

It weighs 6 tons, but "it's getting lighter every day," said Todd Westbrook, chair of First Baptist's committee of trustees.

"One of our members joked that if you walk under the tile, carry an umbrella," said Travis Collins, FBC's senior pastor. "It's been falling for decades."

Apollo's heyday

Tile began falling off the mosaic not long after it was dedicated in January 1974.

"This thing has been studied more than anything except the Bible around here," quipped Collins.

The mosaic - originally composed of 1.4 million square glass tiles - was designed and fabricated by Gordon William Smith, a stained glass artist from Fort Worth, Texas. Smith also designed and installed the stained-glass sanctuary windows.

In 1963, First Baptist relocated from downtown Huntsville to its current site on Governors Drive, in what was then a turnip pasture on the outskirts of town.

The mosaic was commissioned during the heyday of the Apollo program. Huntsville was a city growing by leaps and bounds, and its residents were proud to be connected to the program sending Americans to the moon.

The mosaic's design reflected that optimism and passion for progress.

"They were trying to meld the idea of a community that was both scientific and faith-based," said Westbrook. "They saw it as a way to pay homage to the created and the creator at the same time."

A church newsletter from 1971 described the mosaic's theme this way: "Members of the church and their pastor, Dr. Alvin H. Hopson, feel that the work reflects the forward-looking atmosphere of Huntsville and its Marshall Space Flight Center where the Saturn moon rocket is built.

"According to the artist, the design of the mosaic is based on the first chapter of the book of Revelation in which Christ is described as galactic and universal - the Christ of earth, of space, of eternity.'"

But the brightly-colored "Cosmic Christ" has not aged well. Hundreds - probably thousands - of tiles are missing, leaving white or gray empty patches scattered across the cosmos. Broken tiles can often be found on the sidewalk beneath.

The church has tried various methods of repair over the years, with little success.

Since 2003, said Westbook, the church commissioned two different studies to determine the best way to fix it.

"The conclusion of both," he said, "was that it's unrepairable."

The studies found multiple points of failure, including in the tiles themselves, which are machine-made pressed glass, about the size of a thumbnail. They don't have enough surface area for proper bonding to the surface of the building. The tiles were bonded to some sort of netting with an epoxy that didn't work well with the smooth substrate wall - another point of failure, as the wall was too smooth to bond well with the cement.

"The church has been almost unanimous in the fact that we have to do something," said Westbrook.

High-def update

Earlier this month, the church voted overwhelmingly in favor of replacing the mosaic entirely - and making the new mosaic as close to the original work as possible.

"We wanted to respect those who created it," said Westbrook.

"There was a lot of discussion" around whether to faithfully recreate the current mosaic or design something different, said Westbrook.

"Some view the mosaic one way and some another. But we think the common foundation for everyone here is what we started with."

It will be the same, and yet not the same. The trustees have spent the better part of a year meeting with experts and potential contractors before coming up with a plan.

The new Cosmic Christ will be constructed from 4.3 million blown glass tiles, hand-cut in Italy by the Barsanti Marble Bronze Mosaic company. The original mosaic had just 1.4 million tiles.

"The fabricators said it's like going from analog to HD," said Westbrook. "We have about 60 colors in the mosaic now; we'll get close to 1,000 colors when it's replaced."

The new tiles will be reflective, giving the design a more brilliant appearance than the current tiles, which are matte.

The mosaic will be replaced over the next five years, one section - there are seven bays in all - at a time. Italian artists from Barsanti will arrive to lay the tiles in each bay as they are completed.

But first, a Florida company will use drones to photograph the existing mosaic in order to measure it for reproduction. That company, J. Piercey Studios, will also remove the mosaic, one bay at a time, as the new tiles arrive.

The church is still considering what to do with the old tiles. Leaders hope the process of removing and recreating the Cosmic Christ can provide educational opportunities for the community.

"We hope the arts community will embrace this as a celebration and a way to learn," said Collins. "We'd love to host classes and gatherings."

Worship and a gift

The project will cost approximately $1.4 million to complete. The church has already allocated some building money for the project, and has received a commitment of up to $500,000 in matching gifts from donors.

"Because of the generosity of a few individuals, and the entire church, we're not going to divert any of our missions money to this," said Collins. "We will still be able to invest in the community financially as we always have. That was important to us."

Westbrook said the timing was ideal, particularly after individual donors came forward, willing to give funding for a large portion of the project. Since the project was approved by church vote, he said, there's been a sense of excitement about it.

Reasons put it this way: "Can you imagine not doing it?"

Collins, only half-joking, compared it with Michaelangelo's ceiling at the Sistine Chapel.

"When the trustees of the Sistine Chapel decided to ask Michaelangelo to paint the ceiling, there were probably questions about the wisdom of such a project," he said.

"But my sense is they did it as an act of worship and as a gift to the world. Those are lofty goals. I don't intend to compare us to the Sistine Chapel, except that this too is an act of worship and a gift to the community."