It was more than six years ago when Christian Kerry Brown was in the news for announcing his plan to build a ginormous cross in Branson, Missouri.

It wasn’t just about height. This was going to be the largest walk-through cross in the country, with a “100-foot crossbeam and twin elevators to the 17-story-tall horizontal bar.” All he needed was $5 million and the doors would open by 2013.

That money didn’t trickle in as quickly as he had hoped, so the project never got off the ground… until now.

He’s finally raised enough cash — around $3 million — to begin construction on the 218-foot tall cross.

“I believe that there are a lot of people that are going to be driving down the road, and they are going to see the cross, and they are going to have an encounter one on one with the Lord. They’re going to want to pull over and we do want to minister to those people and help them come into the Kingdom,” Brown said. “But the major purpose I see is maturing the saint, or perfecting the saint — someone who is already in the Kingdom — for the work of the ministry.”

This guy seriously thinks people will drive past his giant monument to God’s phallus and think, “Well, I guess they must be right.” (Oh, how sweet it would be to see a 219-foot tall statue of Baphomet built right next to it. Get on it, Satanists.)

($3 million and he couldn’t find any money to update his website? For shame.)

The plan is for the construction to be finished by next Easter. At which point, you can fulfill your dream of seeing the giant cross before heading to a taping of Jim Bakker‘s TV show.

At least this cross is built on private property with private donations. It may be a sign of religious desperation, but it’s not a church/state separation issue.

(Thanks to Katie for the link)

