
A handout picture released by the St Matthew-in-the-City Anglican church in Auckland shows an apparently naked Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed together. The billboard has sparked the ire of conservative Christians in New Zealand.
(AFP/HO/St Matthew-In-The-City)
New Zealand Church Ruffles Feathers with Bed Scene Billboard
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091220/new-zealand-church-ruffles-feathers-with-billboard/A proudly “progressive” Anglican church in New Zealand turned heads and ruffled feathers this past week when it put up a billboard featuring an illustration of Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, in bed.
The billboard, which has been twice put up and as many times pulled down by vandals, “lampoons literalism and invites people to think again about what a miracle is,” say church leaders at St. Matthew-in-the-City in Auckland.
“Is the Christmas miracle a male God sending forth his divine sperm, or is the miracle that God is and always has been among the poor?” they posed.
In the illustration, a dejected Joseph looks down as a sad Mary, lying next to him, looks upward. The caption, meanwhile, reads: “Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow.”
“It is intended to challenge stereotypes about the way that Jesus was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story,” church leaders explained.