A chicken, a church and the greater purpose they serve

GREENVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An ornamental chicken that’s been a local landmark in the southern Alabama town of Greenville has been removed from its familiar perch, and folks around town are putting in their bids to see who gets to keep the big bird.

For years, the nearly 10-foot-tall fiberglass rooster sat atop a local chicken restaurant on Greenville’s South College Street, near Southside Baptist Church.

But the chicken fell over on its side in a storm last fall, and after the church bought the building earlier this year, its leaders decided to put the chicken up for auction, with the money going toward the church’s community ministries.

“We had people in the community – church members and others – who said, ‘I want the chicken,’” Leanne Lincoln, the church administrator at Southside Baptist Church, said. “I had so many people saying that that we came up with the idea of, ‘Let’s have an auction for it and see what interest we could get.’

“We thought we would just make a fun thing out of it and have some donations come in for our ministries.”

The church announced the auction on its Facebook page on April 11 and followed up a couple of days later with a video of the chicken being removed from its rooftop perch.

“I hate to see it go!” one commenter posted on Facebook.

“I can’t wait to see where this chicken will be ‘roosting’ in May!” another said.

“I pray that it’s me,” yet another replied. “It’s my dream.”

“Each person has their own story of why they want it,” Lincoln said. “That’s another thing I’m working on -- reaching out to some of those who have expressed interest to see, ‘Why does it mean so much to you? Why are you interested in placing this bid?’”

The starting bid is $1,000, and the church...