A new statue in front of Solid Rock Church will portray Jesus Christ inviting followers to “Come Unto Me.”

Two Cincinnati artists have been chosen to design the new 51-foot-high statue that will replace the “King of Kings” monument (commonly referred to as “Touchdown Jesus“) destroyed when it was struck by lightning June 14.

The statue will stand on 11 feet of boulders and rocks with water flowing out of the rock into the reflecting pool in front of the statue. The structure will be constructed of a steel substructure with a lightning suppression system installed.

The 62-foot King of Kings statue no longer stretches out its giant arms to motorists on Interstate 75, but a pastor of the Solid Rock Church says the June 14 fire was good PR for what the church is about: Christ.

The fire also shone a spotlight on the Bishops, who built Solid Rock from a dozen congregants in a tin-roofed building with folding chairs into one of the region’s largest churches, with a satellite church east of Cincinnati, a home for troubled women, 13 churches in the Philippines and an orphanage in Brazil.

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