The members of Lee’s Chapel Church have taken on a project that seems to have a lot of people in Clinton County talking.
The project is a mural painted by Jordan Justice of Somerset, Kentucky, on the retaining wall in front of the church parking lot.
The mural is 170 feet long and nine feet tall at the tallest point.
“I’m an aircraft mechanic full time, but this has just been a hobby of mine forever,” Justice said. “Every chance I get I do as many projects as possible. I’m extremely universal. I’ve worked with communities, tourism, businesses, I’ve done water tanks and everything.”
Justice said the type of paint he uses is top of the line, including the base coat he puts on before he gets to his artwork.
“It’s all graffiti paint,” Justice said. “I haven’t done a religious mural for a church before this one, but I love it because there are so many different scenes, so many colors and to blend it all together it makes it extremely bright.”
Justice uses the best exterior paint he can get because he said it’s not only the church’s, but it’s his artwork and he wants it to last as long as it can.
“I don’t want this to wither away or fade in a couple years,” Justice said. “Because it’s right beside the road, I’m going to add a protective coating just for wear and tear from gravel or whatever.”
Members of the church are also excited about what this mural can bring to their church family and to the community.
“What does the mural mean to the church? I think we all had a different idea of what it would look like. It started as a simple idea of how to clean up our retaining wall, and maybe have the opportunity to witness to the community as well. After the first week, we could tell how special this project would be. The artist, Jordan Justice, had a vision and, boy, has it been awesome to see it come to life the last few weeks,” church member Barrett Speck said. “We have been so blessed with the outpouring of support and love from those not only in our community, but from all over the place. The mural project will be funded through various donations and fundraisers. We are currently selling t-shirts to help with the cost, but we have so much more planned, with some community meals at our fellowship hall. This process will be twofold in helping raise money, but also being able to fellowship and connect with our community, and spread the word of God to those that might not know or experience what our God can do.”
The only time Justice gets to work on his artwork is on Fridays and Saturdays and he has put eight days into the mural so far.
“It’s really cool because it’s not a traditional way for a church to represent stories from the Bible,” Justice said. “You have somebody out here using graffiti paint on a wall, you grab interest from younger kids. I’ve had several young guys come by and rev up their Mustangs every time they go by and they are like, ‘dude, that looks awesome.’”
Justice said he’s already seen the hospitality of a small town with people checking on him everyday, including a woman who lives close to the church who brings him cold drinks and snacks throughout the day.
“That’s the way it was back home in Pike County, and it’s awesome,” Justice said.
Justice has been painting murals since 2018 and before that, he said he used to air brush and paint gas tanks and things like that.
“I got an opportunity in Pikeville to do a mural and I loved it,” Justice said. “I said I’m done with everything else, this is what I want to do. It’s scary though, like I’m taking a photo I have on my phone to paint this lion that is as tall as I am.”
His artwork can be found all over the state, including neighboring Wayne County, Lexington, Winchester, and Manchester.
“It’s like everywhere and I love it,” Justice said. “I really don’t advertise. I put my stuff on Facebook and Instagram, which is Jordanjusticeart, but that can reach only so many people. I know I’m doing good if someone is sharing my stuff and word of mouth is the best.”
Since the beginning of the art piece at Lee’s Chapel Church, Justice said he has used 12 gallons of paint and 115 cans of graffiti paint on the mural and so far, every bit of that paint has already made an impact.
“From what I understand this is a small church and they said they’ve never had this much attention in anything they have ever done to this place until now,” Justice said. “They have the most random people talking about the church throughout the community. It’s making a big difference to them.”
Pastor Bro. David Stearns is overwhelmed at what this mural will mean to the community.
“When the creation of the mural was first brought up before the church board, I thought it was simply a means to cover a blank wall. It wasn’t until I saw the unique way the scenes of the Bible were portrayed that I realized that God had opened a door for the church to reach out not only to our community, but also to visitors who visited Wolf River Dock,” Stearns said. “Thanks to the young artist Jordan Justice who is creating this mural and thanks also to Lee’s Chapel Church, and those individuals who acted upon the vision that God gave them. If one person is touched and one life is changed by this mural and what it represents, it will be worth all the effort that has been put forth.”
Jessica Smith, member of Lee’s Chapel Church said the mural is meant to extend the reach of the church to outside the walls of the building.
“We wanted something special to reach people, not only in our church, but also for the neighborhood and the community. Something like this mural isn’t something you find everyday,” Smith said. “Not everyone gets to grow up hearing about the stories from the Bible, but this mural is something that everyone of all ages can enjoy, and they can see just how nothing is impossible with God.”

Jordan Justice, of Somerset, Kentucky, is shown above working on the 170 feet long mural being completed at Lee’s Chapel Church in south-west Clinton County.  In the top photo, a look at the full mural being painted depicting various religious scenes.

Jordan Justice worked on the mural at Lee’s Chapel Church on Friday, August 25. He said he can only work on the mural on Fridays and Saturdays.