OKC church lights up cross for first time in more than 50 years - OKC, OK - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

The beautiful St. Joseph's Cathedral in downtown OKC will once again be lit up! This time, LED lights will be used in the cross that is over 9' tall.

Article text:

For several decades, large lightbulbs lit up a cross perched atop a downtown Oklahoma City church.

However, the lights that illuminated the cross at St. Joseph Old Cathedral went dark in the 1960s.

Saturday, the cross will glow in the darkness for the first time in more than 50 years.

The Rev. M. Price Oswalt said new LED lights have been placed on the 9 1/2-foot-tall cross.

The priest said the new lights will be lit during a ceremony set for 7 p.m. at the church, 307 NW 4.

"In the dark world, we need that luminary," Oswalt, the church's pastor, said this week.

"The cross of Christ was always meant to be a calling point, a symbol of faith and hope for the whole world. We always want to have that light to show us the way."

Oswalt said the new lighting came as a fitting culmination of a recent $400,000 project to install a new roof. He said the roof was heavily damaged in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building adjacent to the house of worship. Oswalt said it had been patched somewhat but ultimately needed to be replaced because leaks had been causing interior damage.

He said he approached the congregation about installing new lighting as crews were putting finishing touches on the roof. Beginning in the 1920s, the cross had been lit by giant lightbulbs that maintenance staff would change out when needed but the practice had died out by the 1960s.

"I can't imagine getting out there without harnesses or anything. Imagine in the 1930s and 1940s, scaling that to change out lightbulbs," Oswalt said.

The priest told his parishioners that he attended an event at Vast, the restaurant atop Devon Tower, and looked out the windows toward his church. He said he saw that the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum was surrounded by bright lights but their historic church next door — one of the first churches built after the April 1889 Land Run — was not illuminated.

With lights on the cross atop the church, the most recognized symbol of Christianity would become a symbolic fixture of the downtown Oklahoma City skyline, he told his congregation. It would be a beacon of hope and become familiar to passersby in the same way that the lights on the Devon Tower or the Skydance Bridge have become local standards.

Oswalt said parishioners donated enough money in about three days to get the new lighting installed while a crane was still at the church for the roof installation. He said colored lights will be on sides of the cross and white bulbs will be the front and back.

On Saturday, the cross lights will be multicolored but will be changed to a standard green, the priest said. He said on Ash Wednesday, the lights will be changed to purple befitting the Lenten season and the colors will be changed throughout the year according to the liturgical calendar.

"I think it's time for this. I think it's a great evangelism tool," he said.

"With the lighting of the cross, Jesus says 'I am the light of the world' and it's meant to be a symbol and beacon of hope."

Type of publication: Internet Only When was the article reported?: 02/16/2019 Publication: News OK Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Society/People

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