A video of the unique murals went viral on social media
Credit: Andie Morgan Williams/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- A video featuring the murals at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Alabama went viral after being shared on social media
- The murals, painted by artist Chad Camp, are creative spins on biblical figures like “Air Moses” and “Pickleball Paul” as they play sports
- The church’s pastor said the murals reflect their community-focused mission and have brought joy to their congregation
A church's sporty murals went viral thanks to a woman who was helping coach her son's soccer team.
Andie Williams spotted the paintings while at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Madison, Ala.
The characters included an "Air Moses" who was leaping in the air with a flaming basketball instead of the flaming bush from the Old Testament, and another dubbed "Pickleball Paul" as the New Testament figure was enjoying the modern sport.
Williams filmed and posted a video of the kids playing with the murals in the background, complete with the caption, "Tell me you're practicing in a church gym."
“I got home and thought, I’m just going to post this and see if my friends think it’s funny,” she told Today. “And the next morning, it already had 20,000 views on it.”
Credit: Andie Morgan Williams/Instagram
The murals were painted by Atlanta-based artist Chad Camp, who started with "Air Moses," which dates back to around 2006, per the outlet.
Camp then painted "Pickleball Paul" about two years ago (the muralist also happens to be the pastor's ex-husband).
"We had just launched the Upward Sports basketball program at our church, and we wanted something fun on the wall, something that people would get a kick out of, something kind of iconic," the church's pastor Brittany Dawkins-Camp said. "And so we went with the 'Air Moses.' "
"He came along because our church started a community pickleball league that plays three days a week in the gym, and we just wanted something to represent them," she added about "Pickleball Paul."
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Credit: Andie Morgan Williams/Instagram
Dawkins-Camp shared that she feels excited about the church having a viral moment.
"We actually played (the news clip) at worship last week as part of our announcements. It's just been really fun for our congregation to see that the heartbeat of our church is to be right in our community. It's been fun to watch that go viral, and for people to love our murals as much as we do," Dawkins-Camp said.
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