{"id":19004,"date":"2012-12-11T06:49:45","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T11:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=19004"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:01:22","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:01:22","slug":"rhode-island-church-recasts-the-nativity-with-jose-maura-and-a-girl-named-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/12\/rhode-island-church-recasts-the-nativity-with-jose-maura-and-a-girl-named-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island church recasts the Nativity with Jose, Maura…and a girl named Hope?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
\nPhoto by Bob Plain<\/small><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kathy Schiffer found this curiosity:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The babe in the manger is a girl named Hope.<\/strong>\u00a0 Joseph (er, \u201cJose\u201d) is an illegal immigrant looking for a job in the U.S.\u00a0 Mary (\u201cMaura\u201d) is a teenage runaway who fled her Connecticut home after her parents became upset upon discovering her pregnancy.\u00a0 The Angel Gabriel, nicknamed \u201cGabe,\u201d is a homeless black man.<\/p>\n

The reinterpreted Nativity,<\/strong> its characters hewn by chainsaw artist Michael Higgins, stands in Tiverton Four Corners, Rhode Island.\u00a0 The unconventional display was conceived by Bill Sterritt, pastor of the Amicable Congregational Church.\u00a0 Sterritt envisioned the Christmas story in modern times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, now.\u00a0 That\u2019s, um, different.<\/p>\n

Bob Plain, up in Rhode Island has more: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Minister Bill Sterritt [shown in the photo above] remade the original Christmas story in modern times, and added an overtly-progressive theme to the tale of a special baby being born under less than ideal conditions.<\/p>\n

The Biblical character of Joseph is represented by Jose, an out-of-work migrant worker in this country illegally. Mary is Maura, a pregnant teen who runs away from her home in Connecticut after being shunned for her unexplained pregnancy. The Angel Gabriel is a homeless black man named Gabe.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust Biblically speaking if you take the story they are on the road and can\u2019t afford a room,\u201d Sterritt told me when I stopped by on Friday afternoon. \u201cIf that isn\u2019t being homeless, I don\u2019t know what is. We have this vision of the Christmas story being warm and gentle. The manger was a feeding trough. It was a damp cave meant for cattle and sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n

He represents the magi with a Buddhist<\/a>, a Muslim and a Hindu. The lead role is played by a girl named Hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Christmas story is one of hope,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce that came to me, Jesus became a girl.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The pastor\u2019s reinterpretation of the Christmas story is being serialized here. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Somewhere, Luke is doing this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Bob Plain Kathy Schiffer found this curiosity: The babe in the manger is a girl named Hope.\u00a0 Joseph (er, \u201cJose\u201d) is an illegal immigrant looking for a job in the U.S.\u00a0 Mary (\u201cMaura\u201d) is a teenage runaway who fled her Connecticut home after her parents became upset upon discovering her pregnancy.\u00a0 The Angel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[237,729],"class_list":["post-19004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-that","tag-christmas","tag-rhode-island"],"yoast_head":"\nRhode Island church recasts the Nativity with Jose, Maura...and a girl named Hope?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Photo by Bob Plain Kathy Schiffer found this curiosity: The babe in the manger is a girl named Hope.\u00a0 Joseph (er, 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