Journey of transformation starts with a vision and an old stump
‘Jesus and the Little Children’ sculpture is message of hope at First Christian Church
An old stump that once stood on the east side of the First Christian Church campus has been transformed into a piece of art.
An almost live-size depiction of Jesus has been carved out of wood, seemingly sitting in contemplation with four children, kneeling at his feet in prayer.
The church, located at 1601 Sunset across from Rice University, hosted a dedication ceremony Sept. 23 for the piece, titled “Jesus and the Little Children.”
“The statue is a reminder to us of one of our core values at our congregation, that we don’t consider anyone’s children as other people’s children,” senior pastor Michael Dunn said. “They’re all our children. And think about the impact of that on how we live our lives, how we connect with others.”
Making the sculpture a memorial to the late James Berry was a natural
next step.
“It just made sense,” Dunn said. “Jim was our elder statesman. He was here longer than anyone else. People looked up to him and respected him. He was also a good friend.”
Berry was born in 1932 and graduated from Rice University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1956. He met his wife, Joan Britton Berry, on campus, and they had three children, Rick Berry, Karen Rose and Susan Monnin, as well as five grandchildren.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Berry began his career in architecture, working for the University of Houston and Texas Commerce Bank, as well as other institutions in the city, including campuses for the Houston Independent School District.
Making something beautiful and meaningful out of the stump at First Christian Church was one of his pet projects.
“We had a tree we had to remove,” Dunn explained. “We have some giant live oaks, and this one started to get diseases and looking bad. In a storm, a large chunk came down.”
For safety reasons, the church decided to cut down the rest, leaving behind a massive stump.
“It sat on our campus for years,” Dunn said. “Then, Jim took the charge.”
Berry saw the potential in the remaining chunk of wood. After all, his favorite hobby was carving detailed sculptures of ducks and geese.
He located a fellow artist, James Phillips, who had the skill and the background to take on the project.
Phillips became a sculptor by happenstance. He was cutting down a tree, when inspiration struck, and he turned it into an art piece.
Phillips turned sculpting into a career and is known for transforming the trees Galveston lost during Hurricane Ike into statues across the island. His work also can be found at homes, galleries and institutions across Texas.
Sandra Carson, an elder at First Christian Church, clearly recalls Berry making presentations about Phillips and the sculpture to the board when she joined the congregation five years ago.
She was struck by Berry’s passion for the project and offered to get involved.
“He would email me the ideas that he had,” she said. “But when we started doing the sculpture, he was already not coming to church.”
Berry was battling cancer and was not well enough to attend, she explained.
“While Jim was home sick, I sent him pictures of Jimmy doing the work,” Carson said. “Jimmy Phillips would get up on the stump with his chain saw, wearing his cowboy hat, and Jim loved that.”
Phillips explained that the stump was too large to move from the campus to his studio.
He brought a large chain saw to whittle it down into a smaller size.
“When I got it small enough to go into my trailer, I lifted it up, backed up my truck, and hauled the wood home, where I finished it,” Phillips said.
His process starts with a sketch. He gave the church a couple of options, and they selected Jesus with the children.
“I make a clay model to turn a sketch into 3D,” Phillips said. “Then I cut it out of the wood like a paper doll.”
He uses chain saws at first. “When I get close to the shape I want, I start sculpting with a grinder,” he said.
Phillips also constructed a pedestal for the sculpture and brought the pieces to the church to display them inside the children’s wing of the building, near the preschool classes.
“There’s an emotional attachment to trees,” he said. “Most people, if they stay in one place long enough, become attached to the trees. They remember things that happened sitting under the trees and hanging around trees.”
It’s been about a year since the piece arrived on campus. Berry was able to see if before he died in November 2017.
Carson said that Berry’s presence is still part of the church grounds, and having the stump turned into a sculpture was meaningful to him.
“He said, ‘We have that stump, and we want to use it,’ ” she recalled. “For me, a similar transformation happened with my relationship with Jim and his wife. It was such a good friendship.”
Dunn said that the tree also stands as a metaphor to his congregation.
“What greater symbol is there for death and resurrection?” he asked. “And who would not want to bring life to the people around them? Here’s a stump that was transformed into an incredible piece of art. Personal transformation is what we have to do before anything else changes.”
Joan Berry is glad to see her husband’s dream realized. “It means a lot to me, because I know it meant a lot to him,” she said. “And it’s just so amazing that someone could make this.”