For more than a decade, a Laurel-based sign company has been bringing a message to the cityscapes across the Southeast — the message of the cross.

Headrick, known as America’s premier manufacturer of signs and majestic crosses, specializes in building one of a kind cross creations. This month, the company finished installing a 199-foot tall cross at Central Assembly of God in Bossier City, La.

John Rebry, account executive for Headrick, said the 199-foot tall structure is only the second cross of that height the company has built. That first cross, which cost nearly $1 million, was constructed at First Baptist Church of Central Florida in Orlando, and was made of an aluminum composite called Alucobond, which allows for wind flex.

“The base is made of faux stone, what we call rhino stone,” Rebry said. “It’s the same stuff Disney uses to make a lot of the displays there.”

In a testimonial, Clayton Cloer, senior pastor at FBC Central Florida, said, “The cross has proven to add tremendous value to the entire community. People from all walks of life reference the cross as a daily inspiration for them. We have had funerals, marriage proposals, visiting families, as well as baptisms and the Lord’s Supper at the foot of the cross. Nearly every day someone shares another one of the millions of cross stories. I like to say, ‘One cross and a million stories.’”

 Rebry noted that the Bossier City cross, valued at around $700,000, was made of plate steel, allowing for an almost seamless design. Yet another project for 2009, a 170-foot cross at Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas, is 8-feet by 8-feet at the base and includes a stairwell that stretches to the top.

In a letter to Headrick, Dr. John D. Morgan, pastor at Sagemont Church, said, “I continue to hear good things about you, your company and your ministry. God has used the cross to increase the numbers of people giving their heart and lives to Jesus by 400 percent over the last six months.”

While construction only took about four months to complete, Rebry said the Louisiana cross project was in the making for about four years.

“That’s when the concept hit the pastor and that church,” he said. “Typically, it takes at least a year from start to finish. There’s always a fight with the city administration about permitting. Nobody allows for somebody to build 200-foot structures in a town. There’s a lot of red tape and bureaucracy, but once you get approval, it flows pretty easy after that.”

Perhaps the most famous of Headrick’s crosses are the three crosses installed at Bellevue Baptist Church along Interstate 40 in Memphis, Tenn. The center cross is 150 feet high, and the other two crosses are 125 feet.

The church’s Website quotes former pastor the late Dr. Adrian Rogers as saying, “I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to drive up on Sunday night and see those crosses illuminated against the sky. I am in the mood to worship when I get there. They say — come and hear about Jesus.”

Headrick was founded in 1927 by A. B. Headrick as a small sign company featuring hand-painted signs. Throughout the Great Depression, Headrick produced quality signage for the local market, and added a neon plant at the end of World War II.

In 1972, the company built a remote control price sign for gas station attendants, quickly expanding into a leading innovator of fuel pricing sign products for truck stops, convenience stores and travel centers.

Reby said the company entered the cross manufacturing business through the relationship with Bellevue Baptist Church.

“Richard said the Lord told him to do that, to work in that direction,” Rebry said. “He changed the business from mostly commercial signage to a leader and premier manufacturer of Majestic Crosses.”

Rebry said about 30 to 40 percent of Headrick’s business today is church signage or crosses.

“Most of our work is local, but we haven’t done a big cross,” he said. “We did build a 70-foot cross for Grace Covenant Church in Ellisville, and one in Hammond, Louisiana.”

Rebry noted that all of the construction is done locally as well.

“We have our own engineering crew, our own artists, installers and fabricators,” he said. “Sometimes, we will subcontract our welding, but we’ll use local companies like Laurel Machine & Foundry Co. or H & H Welding & Fabrication in Ellisville. It’s all Mississippi-based people if we don’t do it ourselves.”

But, crosses are not the only way the Headricks shares the message of Christ. The family also owns and operates Hellfighters International, a Christian motorcycle organization with chapters located throughout the United States, Belize, Madagascar, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

Through Hellfighters International, the Headricks founded The Mission at the Cross, a non-denominational, Christian-based rescue mission. The mission provides Christian counseling and immediate assistance for those in need including food, shelter and clothing, and serves as a gathering point for area services.

The Laurel mission, which opened its doors on Dec. 27, 2008, is the second mission opened by the Headricks. The first being in Sturgis, S.D., a popular motorcycle spot, in August 2007. The local Mission at the Cross, located at 324 S. Magnolia St., houses 10 individuals in five bunkrooms, with shower and laundry facilities available. The facility also has a counseling room and chapel, bringing in more than 200 volunteers to help the community.

Other efforts by Richard and Gina Headrick include Ramon’s Village, a resort in Belize catering to the diving community. The Headricks have owned the business since April 1987 and have since renovated it into a tropical paradise. The Polynesian-themed resort, located on Ambergris Caye, is currently undergoing a $1 million (BZ) renovation project, and was recently featured in “Depth,” a Canadian diving magazine.

The most recent project the Headricks have undertaken is the completion of a full-length, major motion picture entitled “Last Ounce of Courage.”

Rebry noted that the movie sprung from a short story written by the Headricks. “It kept blossoming into a bigger and bigger project,” he said.

Rebry said the movie focuses on a small town mayor’s fight to keep Christ as the center of Christmas.

“The little town, probably not unlike Laurel, has pretty much had everything stripped of what they knew Christmas was like as kids,” he said. “They can’t have the town Christmas tree anymore. The mayor puts a tree on the top of one of the city buildings and the ACLU comes in and says you can’t do that. There’s a personal story involved in the background.”

Rebry said the movie, which is set for a Fall 2010 release, came from Richard Headrick’s belief that “the real message of Christmas is being lost.”

“He wants to do a big splash for it,” Rebry said. “He asked me how much it would cost to rent out the whole Sawmill Square theaters, and it’s a lot. We may go and premiere it in the churches.”

Rebry said the Headricks continue to get involved in mission projects on a seemingly daily basis.

“Right now, they’re trying to launch a boat on the Mekong Delta River in Vietnam,” he said. “They’re trying to get a medical boat mission going. They have so much going on, I don’t know how they do it.”