A small white cross made its appearance in my front yard this week.
You may have seen them around and wondered about them. No, I am not marking a burial site of a beloved pet. I am just making a quiet statement.
Last week when I was at Lakeside, Ohio during East Ohio Annual Conference week I asked my sister to pick me up one at the Ministry Fair. I honestly did not know the history behind it but when she got me my cross the paper that came tightly rubber banded around the base of the cross gave me all of the information that I needed.
The White Cross Movement started in Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2008 when a resident of the area complained about two crosses on a bridge. The town agreed to take them down to appease the atheist. Later he attempted to get the cross that was on the city’s shield taken off even though it represented the Lutheran influence that was part of the heritage of the city. As a result hundreds of residents of the city placed small white crosses in their yards to show their support of the cross and its meaning. The resident finally removed his complaint and the crosses remained.
In 2012 Lowell Trimmer who lived in Lancaster, Ohio vacationed in the Frankenmuth area and noticed the crosses. He brought two home to place in his yard and decided to share them with others. His project blossomed and he and his friends from his church made and distributed 34,000 crosses to be displayed in lawns all over the US and other countries. When he was 84 he decided it was time to let others take over the work.
Enter the Willing Workers from Magnolia United Methodist Church in Magnolia, Ohio. The cross project became a movement and crosses are continually being made and distributed to grace lawns all over as a testament to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage . They serve as a simple symbol of the Christian faith. Their motto is “A Small White Cross – Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word”.
As of January 2018 the group has made and distributed over 50,000 crosses of various sizes.
A small white cross makes a statement. It may be a quiet statement but it is a statement of my belief. If you are interested in the White Cross Movement and would like more information or crosses please feel free to email them at [email protected] Donations are also welcomed to continue to work. Donations may be sent to MUMC (put Crosses on memo line) 11121 Ambush Rd. NW, Magnolia, OH 44643. If you are interested in following them on Facebook you can click here to go directly to that link.
Thank you to all who have worked tirelessly to create these wonderful symbols of love. The sight of them gives me hope and peace. 
19 Comments
Leave a commentOh, I love that…. Such a nice story behind it, too. I’ll definitely check on getting one of those. Thanks, Beth Anne!
You are welcome. I just think it is a nice way to quietly share my faith and was happy to know the entire story behind the cross.
It’s a beautiful cross and speaks to your beliefs. Perfect. I The shield–is part of the towns history and the town spoke. However, i wouldn’t support crosses in public places. Because while you see “love” me not so much so…not because I am an atheist I very much believe in God. Just not the story of the cross. Love heals but my association with the cross is religion and church and a specific set of belief’s. I do know there are many ways to interpretive this. But when you’ve had priests point at the cross and yell—HE DIED FOR YOU, during your young years…the love part seems pretty conditional as told by the Catholic church. Sin. Hell. Not a believer.
On the other hand I love the Virgin Mary and Jesus statues in our neighborhood yards–because it tells me a little bit about the neighbor. And when I looked at the cross in your yard surrounded by fairy mushrooms it made me smile because it tells a bit of your story! Peace be with us all.
I know that the cross takes on many different meanings for people and while I can not imagine my life without a faith in my God I also recognize that not everyone has had the same experience. I respect that but I also am very glad that my blog is my own and that I can share whatever I want on it. Even if it is a symbol of faith that others don’t “get”. I am sorry that your experiences with the “church” have been less than perfect. I am afraid that we all fall short many times and that includes churches and religions and religious leaders as well. My point is to me the small white cross does represent love and is a quiet way to share that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, as always, you do it with respect and I am grateful to be able to have real conversations about how others see things and view life. And yes…peace be with us all. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this! I love the silent witness.
Beautiful way to silently witness!
Thank you for including the history here. Lancaster, OH? Who knew? That is right up the road from me. The crosses in the yards are rather common here, as Catholic Church distributes them at Easter time. We have several in our yard, and so do our neighbors. In fact, I never considered them to be out of the ordinary for that reason. I love the message that the cross sends: love. Our new neighbors noticed ours immediately when they moved in; I think it gave them a sense that we were “all right” and that they were moving into a safe neighborhood. (That has got to be reassuring, especially given all of my lion lawn ornaments and mothing exploits in the middle of the night! Lol!) And heavens, Dianna knows how I freaked out when I lost my cross necklace this year on the sands of Carova. I don’t attend church currently, but my husband does. Still I am probably more spiritual than many people would suspect, even though I seem to have found a niche in alternative therapies and healing. This is a lovely post. Thank you for sharing.
You go girl! I’ve never noticed any of these, but it is a great story! Well played Beth.
What a nice story! Just because I’m not a religious person – I don’t like to call myself an atheist because I believe in something and consider myself more of a spiritual person – doesn’t mean that I would tell someone else what or what not to believe in and how they can display their faith, as long as you give me the same courtesy. So good for you for doing something you believe in and that shows your faith! xo
I try to really be respectful of the beliefs of others. I get that not everyone believes like I do and try to not be pushy with my beliefs while at the same time living my life in a way that hopefully shows others that there is something deeper about the way I live my life.
I love it!
Quietly demonstrating one’s belief is, in my opinion, the way to do it. The cross fits in well with the toadstools. xo
I love the cross and what it speaks. I am contacting them today to purchase one. Thanks so much for sharing, Beth Ann.
I love this! I’m checking out their Facebook page now.
I truly love this. And I’m checking this out too. Thank you for sharing this (and your faith) in your own way. We don’t need to shout our faith, we just need to live it. 🙂
Lovely…Some ask why we use the cross as a symbol. “Would you hang a replica of the gun used to kill a loved one around your neck?” Wrong analogy. The empty cross is like a replica of the gun that DID NOT kill the loved one.
That is a great idea! Such an easy way to make a statement and a great decoration for any yard.
what a subtle, yet powerful, faith statement.
I love how their message has taken off. The group messaged me and told me that they have distributed 60,000 crosses as of June. Isn’t that just amazing.