I was asked to create a painting of the repentance of St. Peter from the Gospel of John, two bas-reliefs and a tabernacle for St. Peter's Catholic Parish in Charlotte, North Carolina. The painting is about fifteen feet square, is housed in a frame made of wood and gold leaf. My daughter Kimberly spent over a year applying the many layers of size and gold leaf that were required to finish my design. The tabernacle below it has a granite base and is covered with jade and lapis lazuli, with a bas-relief door in bronze. I sculpted this bas-relief. The two bas-reliefs on the wall on either side of the painting depict scenes relating to this parish, and they are made from fiberglass-reinforced Hydrostone. When I started, the entire front wall of the church was white. I was asked to design everything except the platform furniture. I was very fortunate to be able to work with Gelbach Design in Charlotte which engineered and fabricated the design of the reredos (forming the background).

St. Katharine Drexel - African Madonna
St. Peter's Charlotte is an inner-city parish. The money for its pews was given by St. Katherine Drexel. She inherited a fortune from her family and gave away her money by founding schools and orphanages for African-American and Native-American children. I think she was following the Lord’s spirit when he said, whoever you help, the most defenseless and the least, you are really helping Jesus Himself. Because of her work at the parish I have put African-American features on the Madonna and Child. If you look closely, you might see a moth below St. Katherine's feet. This makes reference to Jesus' words that we are not to lay up treasure on earth where moth consumes but to lay up treasure in heaven. Jesus is holding her treasure – safe in heaven.

Bas-Relief of St. Ignatius Loyola and the Crucifix
St. Peter's, Charlotte is a Jesuit parish. They needed an image of St. Ignatius Loyola; and, like every Catholic parish, they needed a Crucifix, so I decided to make a bas-relief which contained both of these elements. St. Peter's, being an inner city church, has an important homeless ministry. I thought the homeless folks who come to the parish might appreciate seeing themselves in the art of this church. A homeless man is shown with a plastic garage bag full of his belongings at his feet. Christ hangs on the Cross. He is surrounded by attending angels.

St. Peter Tabernacle
My tabernacle is made from granite and is covered with lapis lazuli and jade. It has a bronze door on which I made a bas-relief of the Nativity. A priest quite rightly asked me why I chose this subject for a tabernacle; after all, the tabernacle holds the one sacrifice of Calvary – not apparently anything to do with His birth. I had already sculpted a crucifix for St. Peter's in the bas-relief to the right, and it seemed redundant to make another. Also, Jesus was born in a town whose name translates as "The House of Bread," and after He was born, He was laid in a manger or food trough.