christmas card

Each year our church delivers a Christmas card (flyer) to every household and shop/office in our parish. I have designed the last few and here is my offering for this year. This is the front of the card, the reverse shows the times of our services. The idea (inspired by Kester Brewin) was to put some humanity into the Christmas story again, move from the nativity just being mythical fantasy to people questioning, feeling, imagining.

‘Mary’ is one of the 14 year old girls in my youth group, and thankfully the bump is a collection of well folded tea towels!

apologies for the dodgy appearance of the text (screen shot/not original)

More photo’s of Mary in photo albums – feel free to use them, just let me know if you do.

Comments

[Jonathan Hallewell]

Hi mate,

great to see your name appear on Jonny Baker's blog - now I know where you live on the web and you can visit my rss reader. I've caught up with your dad a bit recently, it's been good to talk. It will be good to catchup a bit when I'm next in London. Hope you are well.

Jon

[ben]

cheers jon,
good to hear from you. give me a shout when you are next in london

[roy]

Ben
love it - let us know how people respond to it.

[robert terrell]

WOW! your card is great. IMHO it really does what you wanted it to. may was an unwed, teen mom from a backwater roman community - a person that the important ones would have looked at as another statistic. you nailed it.

[Brian Baute]

Brilliant. Can you post a higher res version big enough for projection (full-screen powerpoint) without degradation? I don't make it around here much, so can you email if/when you do this?

Thanks in advance.

[Brenda Eden]

oh, wow! this is beautiful.

just curious, what did the girl from your youth group think of these pictures of herself?

[rhys]

brilliant I referred to it in my sermon illustration link above.

thanks

[ben]

hi brenda, thanks for your comments.
the model (girl from youth group) thinks it's great! we have done a fair bit of work with some of the young people inviting them to think and feel their way into different characters of the story including the donkey!

[Matt]

This photo is really striking - and for me has captured the essence of what Mary was wrestling with.

[Ragamuffin Diva]

Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

[Lorna]

This is great !!

[blammo]

Hi.

Great idea but not sure about the picture..Was Mary really that cool???

B

[Peter]

Thanks, Ben Wonderful photos- I am usuing some of your images for a PowerPoint in a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Youth Service in Winnipeg, Canada on Jan 28th.
Peace - Peter.

I got here via churchmarketingsucks.com

[Printed Christmas Cards]

The card does make you think, you said the text doesn't look that good but when you say exclueded rejected, shunned... It does make you interested. I suppose in the christian message mary did have all these words happening to her because of what Jesus was going through.

[e115]

...beautiful and with the 'punch'.
Bravo.
...you are a very creative and smart person.
I used your Christmas Card on my blog http://e115.blogspot.com

e115

[Claire]

this is just - wow! it totally like gets you thinking about what Mary was going through (like with the questions) and now, 2006 years later, girls of her age are still going through it. Same emotions, same situation.
xx

[Karen Robert]

Hello,
I am an interior designer who has been designing creative Christmas cards for years and I have gotten the idea to make a coffee table book about imaginative and creative Christmas Cards, the proceeds of which will go to a charity. (I am thinking of a charity which provides water to Third World Countries). Would you by any chance consider allowing me to use this card in my book? Please e-mail me and let me know how you would feel, I would of course like to obtain the girl's permission as well. I just love the creative concept you used, a modern day Mary may indeed get the same reaction as Mary did over two thousand years ago. It makes you stop and think. This is exacly the type of card I am looking for. Thank you,
karen Robert

[Robert "Bobby" Fromer-Bonilla]

I love this ad! I think it says just about everything and it really makes one stop and think - At least I hope and pray it would make a person stop and think and re-visit their relationship with not only them selves but with their church and God.

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