Places to Go:
Cross at the Crossroads
W
atching over traffic along Interstate highways 57 and 70, the “Cross at the Crossroads” was built for inspirational reasons. The underlying reason -- was to also out-size every other big American cross out there, especially the giant cross in Groom, Texas, which was both its inspiration and its toughest competition. The construction crew did it’s job well, as the Effingham cross reined as size champion for 17 years, until a taller onewas erected in Missouri in late 2018. Now holding “2nd Place” in size, the cross is 198 feet tall and 113 feet wide. It was forged out of over 180 tons of steel anchored in untold fathoms of cement. The cross can withstand winds up to 145 miles per hour. Its stark, slab-sided design conveys the corporate utility of a logo -- no distracting crucifixion blandishments, just the plainest symbol of Christianity. No two accounts agree on its cost; some estimates range into the multi-millions. But the Cross Foundation that built it says that 20 million people drive past the cross each year, and that a percentage of those people will see it
and become good Christians, and that makes it all worthwhile. Thrusting heavenward out of easy-to-reach flat farmland, the cross seems even bigger than it already is, an effect not enjoyed by some other crosses that were unwisely built on distant hills (Unfortunately, the view from the top of the cross can only be imagined, as its hollow innards have only a single, off-limits ladder and no way to look out). The massive slab into which it’s anchored is awash in piped-in church music
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and surrounded by monuments for each of the Ten Commandments, which deliver inspirational audio homilies at the touch of a button. Granite blocks, set flush with the earth, serve as simple memorials and as billboards for testimony. “Live 4 Jesus Die is Gain” reads one. Another proclaims, “In These Trying Times a Sign -God is in Control.” Corvettes at the Cross and the Blessing of the Bikes are two of the seasonal events held at the cross’s Welcome Center and chapel. Volunteers staff the facility in four-hour shifts. A small theater in the Effingham Cross welcome center shows a video, available for purchase, which recounts the construction. It was “an intricate and delicate ballet,” the narrator says. “Until the Lord comes back and this world comes to an end, the light of this cross is going to shine for people who travel by.”
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