Swedish church unveils Lego Jesus for Easter

Published: 13 Apr 09 10:28 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/18820/20090413/

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While most Christians mark Easter with prayers and song, one Swedish church opened its mass on Sunday by unveiling a life-size Lego statue of Jesus Christ, its pastor told AFP.

Churchgoers had donated nearly 30,000 Lego bricks to build the 1.78 metre (5.8 foot) high statue, said Per Wilder, the pastor of the Önsta Gryta Church in Västerås, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of Stockholm.

"This work began a year and a half ago so we saw that the initiation date was fitting in well (with this year's Easter holiday)," Wilder said.

"It is a fantastic installation and it will be there as long as we think it is in a good spot," he said.

"All those I spoke with were full of praise, saying how fantastic the model looks and how much good work we put into this," Wilder said.

The model was based on Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsens's 19th century work Christus, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is displayed in Copenhagen Cathedral.

Wilder said the statue would remain permanently at the church and there were no plans to sell it to raise funds.

When asked if there was a risk that visitors would take home a piece of the Lego statue as a souvenir, Per Wilder replied:

"That we can never guarantee, but we hope that the pieces of Jesus that people take with them are more spiritual and in their hearts."

TT/AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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12:29 April 13, 2009 by jim747
Iv'e got a model of the Buddy Christ from the film Dogma, they should have used that.
13:42 April 13, 2009 by Johno
For once I agree with you though the rules for a fat stomach underneath missed the point somehow
13:48 April 13, 2009 by Miss Kitten
I can almost hear the outraged protests coming from all over the world. Remember the uproar about the chocolate Christ? But then again, I suppose Lego is a much more respectable artistic medium than chocolate.
19:33 April 13, 2009 by Shark99 - The Great Catsby
Funny thing is that all these protests tend to come from people who think they see Jesus' face on concrete underpasses and on breakfast toast. Never mind that nobody really knows what Jesus looked like, there's no description of his physical features in the Bible, and if we were to go with anthropology, he'd probably look more middle eastern than what the Catholic church would have us believe with their statues.
03:35 April 14, 2009 by dtes
im not so fond of religion, lego should sue these fools!
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