Living Nativity - Behind the Scenes

Out of the 7 days that the Living Nativity was scheduled, 4 had to be canceled because of rain or snow. It seems a shame to go through all the work of organizing and setting it up to only be able to run it 3 days. But believe it or not, we still had just a little under 5,000 people come through to see it. Many people are blessed because of the true story of Christmas and it's a good reminder when all around us the emphasis is so secular.

Every September, Andy starts planning which scene he will rebuild for the coming season. Last year the whole "town" of Bethlehem was rebuilt. That was a huge job that required his attention every Saturday from September till December. He has a couple people who work with him, investigating and researching 1st century architecture, towns, etc. to try to make the buildings as authentic as possible.

Here is Bethlehem, complete with a 30 foot tower, a guard on top of the wall and a well in the town square.
The project this year was to rebuild the scene of Herod's palace, where the wise men come in to find out where the baby Jesus was born. This project didn't take as long as last year's - I think they only started the end of October, but it still turned out pretty awesome.
Can you believe all the work that went into this scene??? The panel behind the throne was hand painted by several very talented ladies. The columns were "marbelized" and the throne was built by a master cabinet maker. The whole set was designed by an interior designer. Isn't it beautiful? - fit for a king!

But now it's all over and it has to be taken down and put away. Andy had a crew of guys last Saturday that spent the whole day taking down the sets and storing everything in the trailers we have on the property. Actually when the trailers aren't storing the sets, they're acting as backs for the facades of the sets. The weather was so windy that they weren't able to use the crane to take down the tower so that still needs to be done another day.
I guess they left the soldier up to keep watch over that tower!

The Nativity itself is tightly run with many details to think of. When people come in to the church, they are ushered into the auditorium to wait to be assigned to a group. While they wait, there is "entertainment" for their enjoyment. We schedule different ensembles, groups and individuals to come on different nights at different times and perform on a rotating schedule to keep the crowds occupied. Sometimes the wait is a long one so it's nice for the people to have something to do. Examples of the entertainment: singer with guitar, handbell choir, singer on piano, puppet/muppet show - you get the idea.

Groups are made of 50 or more people (depending how busy the night is) with a guide that then takes that group to each of the 12 outdoor scenes. At each scene, there is music and narration that explains that scene, with actors and sometimes animals to act out what the narration and scene is about.

After completing all the scenes, the group is brought back into the church gym and treated to hot chocolate and cookies. Thousands of cookies are made and bought by our church people to give to our visitors. We have "minglers" who walk around among the people to engage them and be available to anyone who might have questions about what they've seen and experienced.

Andy is busy all night that Nativity is going on by being available to put out "fires." If the electric is out at a certain scene, he gets it taken care of. And there are hundreds of other things that need attention during the evening.

What do I do on the nights of Nativity? I usually go over to the office around 2:00 pm to be available to answer phones. A lot of people are using the internet to get directions to the church, but when they're on their way, they'll call if they're lost. I've had some interesting conversations. As an example: "I'm on Route 38, can you tell me how to get to your church?" Me: "Well, which direction are you going? And from which town?" If someone is lost, they don't know where they are. And if I'm not in the car with them, it's very difficult to figure out where they are. But I enjoy the challenge.

Because I'm at the church so long and over dinner time, I make up some wraps and take them to the church. When Andy gets hungry, he comes to see me and we eat together. Or sometimes he has to eat on the run.

We both love these wraps so thought I'd include the recipe.

Buy a large spinach wrap at Whole Foods
and spread with garlic and herb cream cheese.

Spread diced tomato down the center of the wrap.

Spread with baby spinach leaves.

Top with 4 ounces of smoked turkey and sliced Provolone cheese.

Roll up and cut in half.

Even though we don't charge people to come through the Nativity, it is a huge part of our church budget. But the gospel is free and we advertise it as "our gift to our community." Think about the huge cost to God to put on the first and real Nativity. And He did it as a free gift for all of us.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)