A Christmas Billboard Sure To Cause Controversy

Photo: 3news.co.nz

St. Matthews-in-the-City Church in Aukland, New Zealand has unveiled a new billboard for Christmas featuring Mary holding a positive pregnancy test.

According to 3 News in New Zealand:

The church says the billboard aimed to “avoid the sentimental [and] trite” and “spark thought and conversation”.
St Matthews has caused controversy with numerous provocative billboards in recent years.
In 2009, their Christmas billboard showed Mary and Joseph in bed with the tag line, “Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow.”
This year Vicar Glynn Cardy says St Matthews wanted to focus on what it was like for a real mother with a real child.
The church’s website says the billboard has purposely been left blank of any text.
“We hope to do so with an image and no words. We invite you to wonder what your caption might be.”
The billboard, erected last night outside the church, will stay up until Christmas Day.

So, what do you think? They’ve gone too far! Or, it’s a great way to get people talking.

For the record, here’s their billboard from 2009:

Sarah

December 15, 2011 | 9:11 am

I think this is too far. While I celebrate a Christian Christmas, this is irreverent and disrespectful! It’s not the image of Mary that is painted in the bible that is for sure. Keep it accurate I say!

Kristin

December 15, 2011 | 10:01 am

There is absolutely no way of knowing if the Bible is even accurate – all the accounts were written down decades, if not hundreds, of years after any of these events transpired. The Catholic Church is becoming irrelevant in the modern world by not being able to adapt to people’s changing lifestyles; I think this is a good way to relate it to contemporary events.