CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Upon reflection, Jim Nimmons could think of no particular event that led him to crawl atop the roof of the First Southern Baptist Church with a can of red paint and splash the world “eternity” across its shingles.
“I guess there was just a concern for the values of our society, being too caught up in what doesn’t last,” said Mr. Nimmons, who took the reins of pastor of the church just south of Palm Springs from his father in 2001. “Even in the church we get caught up in temporal things.”
In a strictly theological sense, Cathedral City officials embrace permanence, too. They want the word “eternity” permanently removed from the church roof....