JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sexually themed billboards have shocked some drivers traveling on Blanding Boulevard and in Clay County, but more surprising than the billboards themselves is what they’re advertising — a church.“At first, I thought it was a porn site thing,” said one passerby.
However, that’s certainly not what the billboards are promoting. They’re promoting a series of sermons called Pure Sex God’s Way at New Life Fellowship in Orange Park, according to WJXT-TV.
“You sure a church put that there? I think they need to change the sign,” said another passerby.
The billboard has raised eyebrows among drivers, but that’s the idea of the church hoping to draw people into their Sunday-morning service.
“It’s a little provocative, but it doesn’t bother me any,” one driver said.
The pastor of New Life Fellowship, Bob Morro, said the billboards promote a series of sermons at the church concerning the role of sex in Christian life.
“We’re giving people the way God created sex for us, and what his intentions for sex are. It seems like the world has lost its value of sex nowadays. STDs are up, divorce is up and we just want to show them God has designed sex. He wants us to have great sex, but he wants us to have it in his parameters,” Morro said.
The pastor told WJXT that the billboard campaign has been working for the new church, which started just months ago next to a pizza parlor.
With the recent boost in numbers, he said the church has begun looking to buy land for a new site.
“We’ve had a great turnout at church just from billboards alone — a few negative comments, but it seems like you do anything outside the box where church is related you’re going to have the pros and cons with it,” Morro said.