Homeless Jesus Statue

Bronze sculpture of Jesus sleeping on a bench, the first installed in the US

In front of St Alban's Episcopal Church on Davidson's Main Street, on a low bench shaded by trees, a life-sized bronze figure lies wrapped in a blanket. Only the feet, exposed at the end of the bench and showing crucifixion wounds, identify the figure as Jesus. The face is hidden.

Davidson was the first place in the United States to install Schmalz's piece; copies are now in more than a hundred cities including the Vatican. The story of the early 911 calls and the parish backlash is part of local lore. Worth a stop, especially after dark when the bronze looks unsettlingly real under the streetlights.

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A story
When sculptor Timothy Schmalz's bronze figure of a homeless Jesus sleeping under a blanket on a park bench was installed at St Alban's Episcopal Church in 2013, several Davidson residents called the police thinking a real person was lying there. Others complained that the parish, in an affluent town, should not be making such a statement. The piece — the first installation of the now-globally-distributed sculpture — has stayed.