The man behind the Big Cross in Groom, Texas

The nearly 200-foot-tall cross that stands between Route 66 and Interstate 40 in Groom, Texas, is the vision of one man.

According to a recent article by the Boston Globe, that man is Steve Thomas, who recently retired and sold the oil and gas business he operated for about 35 years.

He now spends most of his time in his office at the site in Groom, watching tourists come and go. The site officially is named The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries, though many folks simply call it the Big Cross of Groom, Texas.

“I like to do big things, big projects. And I’ve always wanted to do one for the Lord,” Thomas said, leaning back in his chair. “So my wife came in my office one day and laid down a picture of a cross about half this size in Central Texas. And I had one of those” — he slaps his forehead — “moments again. I can do that.”

And, he figured, he could do it even bigger.

The cross measures 190 feet tall — just under the height that would require blinking lights to warn planes — and weighs 2.5 million pounds, according to Thomas. A longtime oil and gas engineer, he borrowed from the design of drilling rig masts.

Thomas had wanted to be a missionary, but he didn’t want to leave home, his ranch in Texas, to travel the world. Instead, he found a spot where the world comes to Texas. “When people come to America, they go to Route 66,” he said. Now, on average, a third of a million people sign the guest book every year.

The cross has another advantage, as he sees it. “When you’re evangelizing, you work as long as your mouth’s moving,” he said. But even while Thomas is sleeping, the cross is there, proclaiming its message 24 hours a day, seven days a week to travelers. “They come in, they read all the Scriptures, they see what Christ went through for us.”

According to the ministries website:

What originally was going to be a large spiritual billboard, transformed into a 19-story, 2 ½ million pound, steel cross. Construction of the cross frame was completed in two shops in Pampa, Texas. It took eight months for the cross to be built, and more than 100 welders worked on it. After much prayer and planning the Cross was erected in July of 1995.

Thomas keeps adding artworks to it, including The Last Supper, a replica of the Shroud of Turin that supposedly was used to wrap Jesus’ body, a replica of Jesus’ empty tomb, an abortion memorial, plaques of the Old and New Testaments, Ten Commandments sculpture and 14 sculptures of Jesus at the Stations of the Cross. The complex also contains a gift shop, theater, fountain and reception area.

Thomas, who is 73, told the newspaper he’ll keep adding to the site as long as health permits.

The cross once stood out amid the flatness of the Texas Panhandle. However, even taller wind turbines have been erected in recent years, somewhat diminishing the stark power of the sculpture.

(Image of the Big Cross of Groom, Texas, by David Schulman via Flickr)