THE NATIVITY PROJECT gives birth to new images that celebrate the presence, agency, and power of women in the New Testament infancy narratives and accounts of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection.

The Project, still in its infancy, was conceived by Barbara Marian of Harvard, Illinois, to inspire women and men to revisit the Gospels through the eyes of the women who knew Jesus best portrayed in art for the church of the twenty-first century. Here are the women who birthed him, nurtured him, supported, counseled and ministered to him--the women who accompanied Jesus through his ministry to the outcasts of his day, journeyed with him through his death on the cross and were chosen to be the first to proclaim his Resurrection to his community of followers.

MORE ABOUT BARBARA MARIAN
Ms. Marian received a Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, New Orleans.

She served seven years on the Diocesan Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, and for five years as an instructor and mentor for the Rockford Diocese's ministry formation program. She served as instructor and Coordinator of Lector Training for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians' summer intensives for cantors and lectors and for twelve years brought her "Good News Workshops"--a small-group process for on-going lector formation--to dioceses and parishes across the United States.

Since retiring, Ms. Marian has created "The Nativity Project" which encourages and supports the work of artists and storytellers who invite us to revisit the bible stories we know well--and those we discover for the first time--in order to bring these stories to life in women and men everywhere.

To learn about Barbara Marian's life-long fascination and love for the stories of Christmas read her article
"Re-casting the Magi."