It was a late Friday evening and I was in Maria Stein taking pictures. I had just left Saint John where I got a great shot of the church from the back with the cemetery. (See Description of Byway for pic) I had moved on to the Shrine of the Holy Relics and hadn’t been there long when a very nasty storm started moving in. As you can see from this picture with the flag the clouds were almost black. The wind was picking up and I wanted to get some pictures of the 50 foot cross from the Spiritual Center of Maria Stein so I packed up the van and drove down rather than walk.This is just one of the few pictures I was able to snap before the sirens sounded. I am not a storm chaser, besides it looked like it could rain buckets at anytime, plus my 15 year old son was home alone and I did not have my cell to check on him. So I booked it. I was worried about my son and didn’t want him worrying about me. Of course there was a very good chance that he would be oblivious to anything that was happening outside of his laptop screen.
"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:5
Surprisingly the buckets of rain never came. The sun dropped under the storm clouds and then OH MY JOSH, the storm clouds lit up like fire. The sky was ablaze with orange, purple, red…it was awesome. And here I am trucking down 119 in the middle of no-where and no place to stop and take a decent picture. I could turn back. Visions of what the sky was doing and all the possible foreground elements I had just left behind haunted me, calling me to return.
As much as I wanted to go back, I did not. I needed to be a father not a photographer. I stopped just before the light show ended and took some pictures. Somewhere in the process my camera had got set to an ISO of 1600, just not my night. (High ISO means Noise/Grain). When I got home, I found Tyler not oblivious but amused that I rushed home to his rescue.
I may have missed a great photo opportunity, but regardless of how my son felt, I know in my heart I did the right thing.
Thank You Susan K. for the Scripture Suggestion for the Cross and Storm
This church looks almost plain compared to the others that I've been taking pictures of but its simplicity is what I find so compelling. It was easy for me to capture that Post Card look I was striving for. I am looking forward to coming back and explore further the inside and its history. All in all I made two trips to this church and am glad I did. I completely missed the Cemetery located just west of the church on my first visit.
When I started this I had no intention of trying to take pictures inside and out. I knew there would be some really nice pictures to be had by arranging and going inside these churches but there is just only so much time. Not too mention the overwhelming number of pictures it would produce. That changed when I was invited in to the St. Rose church by the secretary.
You can see the twin spires of the St. Augustine church and water tower long before you reach Minster. This church is large, impressive and was a challenge for me to photograph. The light never seemed right no mater what time of day I would stop by. It was so big I was having problems fitting it all in and doing it justice. My goal for all the churches was to have a Post Card quality picture for each church. I had found several nice pictures of St. Augustine on the Internet and was looking for my own shot to add. You can see my picture in the Description of the Byway Post.
The frosted glass at the top is found on all the front entry doors. I am not sure if they are three of the Apostles or some other Saints. I thought it was a rather modern and unique feature. The above is a close up of one of the towers featuring the clock.
This close up of one of the spires gives you a good look at the cross tip and detail in the roof. While not so apparent to the naked eye, the cross gives off a wonderful golden glow when the setting sun hits it. Check out the cross tipped spire at the top of the Description of the Byway post to see what I mean.
I am not the only person who has taken noticed of these wonderful churches. Check out the German Egyptian or the Land of the Cross Tipped Churches in the 
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is located in McCartyville and was the first church I visited. The church was recently renovated by adding a major addition. They did an excellent job of combining the new and old parts of the church. I could not readily tell where the old left off and the new started. One unique feature that struck me was that the church was faced with flatstone and not brick. 
I tend to think of my first visit like a meet and greet. You exchange names, some pleasantries and move on. The second is more relaxed and takes more time. You talk about each others work and wife and kids. You leave with a little more understanding and knowledge of your new acquaintance. Further visits and you become friends, sharing feelings and dreams. This is the point for me where I go from taking pictures to capturing the moment.
The church had many elements that I wanted to capture not just photograph so I knew I would be spending some time here. It took several trips before I was happy with any of them. I think I visited the church no less than 5 times to take pictures. One of those was after a spring day rain and the other at night. Finding the Calvary monument lit up at night was a nice surprise.
The Calvary memorial in the cemetery tucked behind the church has proven to be most photogenic. It has grown to be one my favorite subjects. It became one of my “Where did you see Jesus” moments when I caught it with the sun setting. I was so taken by the sight that I almost forgot to take a picture.
As the pictures started to accumulate, I began to wonder what to do with them. It seemed such a shame to just let them sit on my hard-drive. A friend of mine suggested to create a blog. I thought it was a great idea so I'm giving it a try. The first couple of post are going to be playing catch-up with where I am at currently in the process. Once caught up I am hoping to have weekly to bi-weekly post with updates on my progress. The plan is to have photographed all 10 locations by late fall.
The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches Byway going from east to west starts in McCartyville with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. The route then follows SR 119 to Fort Recovery and then goes north on SR 49 terminating at SR 29 just west of Walbash ending with the church of St. Anthony. The route runs through 3 counties; Shelby, Auglaize and Mercer for a total of 38.4 miles. Along the way you will be able to visit eight churches and two other points of interest; the Shrine of Holy Relics and Fort Recovery as well as several communities. These churches were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The following points of interest can be found along the byway. I will add more pictures as they become available. If you are just looking for a nice pleasant drive this would be an okay way to spend an hour, but to truly appreciate and find the beauty you have to park, explore and take your time.
