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Life Of Jesus On Display

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 8, 2007

NORTHDALE - Northwest Community Church is ready to show off its newest work of art: a painted mural glorifying the life of Jesus Christ.

The mural, four years in the making, was recently completed and will be officially unveiled Dec. 15 as the artists dedicate it to the church at 14913 Hutchison Road.

The ceremony will include music, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction featuring the 12 original paintings that inspired the mural. Proceeds go toward the church's youth ministry. Those who would like to attend the event can visit www.sermononthewall .com to request an invitation.

The church will welcome the public from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 16-22.

"This work is meant to bring people closer to the real Christ - who he was and what he did," said Scott Collins, senior pastor of Northwest Community Church.

Three sisters, Caren Clisset, Carol Mecum and D.J. Stevens, members of the church's congregation, designed and painted the 30-foot-tall, 70-foot-wide mural depicting events in the life of Jesus.

The mural features a vast open-sky motif, with windows depicting scenes from the Bible, including Jesus' birth and baptism, his crucifixion and resurrection.

During the unveiling, visitors will be ushered into the main hall where Collins will talk about the mural and each of its panels.

The crew spent last week scrambling to finish the painting. "We're just doing some final touch ups," Mecum said. "You go to bed at night thinking, 'Did I do the best that I could do?'"

Collins requested the sisters finish the wall by year's end to allow for the presentation of 12 new sermons to coincide with the paintings.

"There's a lot of stuff in the Bible people don't know about," said Mecum, who designed the mural concept. "This is just my way of giving back what God gave me. He gave me the talent to paint. I'm not good at talking, and I'm not good at singing."

The sisters grew up in the art world. Typically they design murals for multimillion-dollar homes; they worked on the church project in their free time with the help of family and volunteers. For information, call (813) 962-4990.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or shammill@tampatrib.com.

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