'Homeless Jesus' Sculpture Stolen from New Life Evangelistic Center

ST. LOUIS -- Have you seen Jesus?

A bronze statue of the sleeping son of man was sawed off its base in front of New Life Evangelical Center and hauled away in a crime that played out in a bizarre series of events this week.

"It was a real shock," the Rev. Ray Redlich tells the RFT.

The caper began on Tuesday night. As the city was tallying votes in the mayoral primary, a resident of the Terra Cotta Lofts on Locust Street in Downtown West spotted someone with a power saw crouched at the base of the sculpture known as "Homeless Jesus," which features the deity sleeping beneath a blanket on a park bench.

New Life installed the sculpture, a replica of the original by Canadian artist Timothy Schmaltz, outside what was then an active overnight homeless shelter about five years ago, thanks to a donation.

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2021/03/05/homeless-jesus-sculpture-stolen-from-new-life-evangelistic-center


RAY REDLICH
The "Homeless Jesus" sculpture was a fixture in front of New Life Evangelical Center until it was stolen.