Dinosaur Display Says 'Bring Your Brain to Church'

Driving on County Road 39 in Southampton, it is hard to missing the dinosaur statues in front of .

Now one of those dinos will be drawing eyes in Water Mill, standing out in front of next to a sign that states, "We baptize not lobotomize. Bring your brain to church."

The dinosaur resembles a velociraptor from "Jurassic Park," but the pastor of Incarnation Lutheran, the Rev. Katrina Foster, has taken to calling it "Luthersaurus."

Foster said she came up with the idea when driving past Yesterday's Treasures with her wife, Pamela Kallimanis.

"I said, 'I'd love to put a dinosaur in front of the church,' and she started laughing," Foster recalled. "I knew I was onto something."

She contacted Yesterday's Treasures, and the business agreed to lend out a dinosaur statue for one week. It was installed Monday, and will go back this coming Monday.

"The message we are trying to send is that one can be a Christian and be a thinking person too," Foster said. "Faith and facts are not a threat to each other, faith and science are not opposed."

The reverend promises to explain further during Sunday's sermon at 9 a.m.

"I think people will notice the church and be curious," she said. "I hope they come on Sunday and discover Christians can think, be funny, creative, intelligent and faithful. A thinking faith is great."

Foster said that Incarnation Lutheran is the "only GLBTQ Christian welcoming community on the East End."

"We are a Christ-centered, neighbor-focused community of faith. We are also funny."