CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Since Calvary Church opened nearly 20 years ago, people have talked about its color.

Many have used its distinctive look when giving driving directions to people coming from out of town.

"Just make a left after you pass the big pink church," they would say.

Well, now you'll have to make a left at the big taupe church.

After two decades, the stucco exterior walls of the church needed some repairs and a new coat of paint.

This time, church officials are going with something a little less flashy and a little more earthy.

A church official today said they've heard it all before. He said the nicknames like "Mary Kay Cathedral", "Pink Palace", and others didn't bother them or keep them from doing God's work. The change, he said, was just part of normal maintenance and the new color is just that, a slightly different shade to give the church fresh, clean look.

Originally the church was designed to have a pinkish marble exterior, for whatever reason, stucco with a similar pinkish color was used instead of marble when the church was constructed. The new color has a more traditional stucco look.

Talking to people at the public library across the street from Calvary on Highway 51 and Rea Road, reaction to the color change was mixed.

One woman, who's lived in this area for years, hadn't noticed the change and when it was pointed out remarked, "Oh my, it's not pink anymore is it?"

Another woman said she was glad, saying, "A church just shouldn't be pink at all."

A man who recently moved here from Atlanta just shrugged and said, "I just printed up a bunch of directions for my family to visit me -- now I'll have to resend them without the 'pink church' part."

Maybe the most telling reaction was from a woman hustling to get her kids buckled up in the car and head off to her next appointment, "It's a church, the outside doesn't matter, it's what's on the inside that counts."

To see a slideshow of the new paint job and to take part in a survey, look in the sidebar of this article.