Christmas angel in Fayetteville offers peace, protection in a time of COVID

During the daytime, the 10-foot-tall angel is hard to miss for drivers along old Raeford Road, near Lake Rim Park.

At night, the angel transforms into a bright beacon for the holiday season.

The words “Oh Holy Night” announce the presence of the angel, which is framed by the colorful stained-glass facade of Beauty Spot Missionary Baptist Church.

She is the brainchild of Iresteen Grant and the church’s Floral Ministry.

Grant said the ministry came up with the angel as a way to provide encouragement to the community.

“Everything is going haywire,” Grant says. “COVID has affected, in one way or another, everybody in the area in some form or fashion.

“People are feeling stressed and down, and we wanted to erect a symbol of hope, peace, love and protection.”

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Grant says the angel first began to take shape with the wings — designed by Gary McDonald, an art teacher at Cliffdale Elementary School. From there, 12 members of the Floral Ministry worked on construction, installation and lighting.

They used coroplast sheets for the angel wings, fleece fabric for the gown and silver garland for trim. The headdress, Grant says, was composed of Styrofoam and various Christmas ornaments. She said there are also white Christmas lights and “tons of glitter.” The letters for “Oh Holy Night” were installed by a Raeford company named Lawn Creations.

“It was a total group effort,” she says.

She says members completed the angel Dec. 4, which was also a night of tweaking everything — costume, wings, lighting and lettering.

But she adds: “It was so enjoyable!”

Grant says the reaction from people who happen by the angel has been positive.

“When we were first putting it up, people were blowing their horns, honking and carrying on,” she says. “It’s really been great.”

The Floral Ministry has made it a mission to keep up the spirits of the Beauty Spot church family and the surrounding community, located in west Cumberland County, during the pandemic. The congregation has for months been conducting service and Bible study online.

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In May, for Mother’s Day, the Floral Ministry created colorful signs with uplifting messages to greet members who came to drop off tithes and offerings.

The angel is another part of that outreach.

Pastor Taijuan O. Fuller said: “I was glad they did it, especially at a time like this. There’s so much going on. I think everybody’s kind of at their wit’s end.

“We’ve had challenges with the election, racial issues, COVID; 2020 has just been a tough year. We still know there is hope in God. What it symbolizes is we will get through this. These are challenging times, these are difficult times, but we will overcome. When we ride by and see that, it reminds us to hang on, help is on the way.”

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at [email protected] or 910-486-3559.

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