From Staff Reports 

The Haywood Street Congregation has withdrawn its application for $72,500 in Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority funding for a church fresco.

The BCTDA had agreed to the grant. However, following several months of legal wrangling with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the church and the BCTDA agreed, “The most faithful response we can make at this time is to withdraw our proposal for funding.”

The FFRF, based in Wisconsin, describes itself as a 501(c)(3) “nonprophet” working to “promote nontheism” and give voice to “freethought (atheism, agnosticism, skepticism).” The high-powered legal force is 30,000 members strong, and it was tipped off to the Asheville story by an anonymous source.

The Haywood Street Congregation had already commissioned Asheville artist Christopher Holt to create a fresco in the church’s sanctuary depicting the Beatitudes.The Beatitudes are Biblical verses pronouncing blessings on the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

The church said no images of divinity were depicted; instead, the art would tell the story of the congregation’s ministry helping the homeless, a group that the Rev. Brian Combs said constitutes “the holiest among us.”

Combs added, “The New Testament narrates a God who abandons heaven to take up residence as a homeless man on earth, who loiters on dirty corners, who breaks bread with outcasts, who touches the untouchable, who loves cherishing what has been discarded by the world.”

He suggested, “This project can challenge viewers to embrace the beauty within the outcast, to see neighbors living in poverty with fresh eyes, and perhaps can stir a new passion for justice.”

The work was intended to be public art, “available to all who have an interest in viewing it,” according to Laura Kirby, the church’s executive director.

However, the FFRF disagreed. Indeed, FFRF Attorney Ryan Jayne said he does not see what could not be religious about the portrayal of a Biblical verse inside a church.

The TDA collects its revenues from area hotel taxes, and each year it awards grants through its Tourism Product Development Fund for capital projects that will attract more people to stay overnight in local hotels. 

Kirby said she was confident the fresco would do just that.