Living celebrations
Several children gathered in a circle, scripts in hand, during a recent rehearsal at Opportunity Presbyterian Church. They were there to learn hand motions to go along with the songs in their Christmas play, “The Christmas Star.” They start out strong at the beginning of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” but their voices trail off as they concentrate on the motions. “Ah, ah. Start over,” said play co-director Ronita Taylor. “Do it like you mean it.”
The children are some of hundreds around the Spokane area who are preparing to put on special programs in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Churches routinely host Christmas caroling, plays and special worship services. For many people, such programs are at the core of the season.
Mary Farnsworth, 83, has been participating in her church’s living Nativity for years. The small congregation of Central Baptist Church on the North Side has put on a Nativity scene on and off since 1966. It’s been held regularly for the past 10 years.
“I think it’s a worshipful experience,” she said. “I just think it’s part of my Christmas celebration. It’s a real joy to do.”
Farnsworth said the church stages the event using church volunteers and local youth – basically anyone who will come. “Mostly I’ve done a wise man,” said Farnsworth of her bearded costume. “I call myself an ancient wise guy.”
Brian Bays and his wife, Pam, have been coordinating the Central Baptist Church living Nativity scene for the past five years. “Of course, a lot of things have changed over the years,” he said. “We have music now and more lights. Over the years they added plywood animals. Now we actually use live miniature donkeys in our stable with us.”
The volunteers work in shifts so no one gets too cold. Food and drinks are served to keep visitors warm. “It is part of Christmas for us,” Brian Bays said. “It brings home the true meaning of Christmas. It’s time to take the focus off the commercialism of it.”
Green Bluff Community United Methodist Church also has been doing a living Nativity scene for several years. Theirs is a simple one with people playing the roles of wise men, shepherds, Mary and Joseph. The actors don’t speak but simply stand in position. “It’s pretty meaningful in the life of the church,” said the Rev. John Southwick. “We feel good that we do this thing even though we’re a little church.”
Helen Dunlap is one of the church’s 75 members. “We look at it as a way of sharing the birth of Christ with the community,” she said. “It’s a spiritual experience, to be a part of it. There’s just something holy about it.
“We get notes from people who have driven by and seen it and wanted to let us know that it had an impact on them.”
Back at Opportunity Presbyterian, the children were working to nail down their motions, singing louder and stronger on Taylor’s urgings. Taylor, who is frequently on stage at local theaters, said she picked the play because of its Christmas message. She spent weeks looking through plays, searching for the right one. “I kept coming back to this one,” she said.
The play features a doubting angel who wonders why they should bring out the star this year since people behave so badly. The keeper of the star sends angels down to earth and gives them the task of finding one good person so the star can be brought out. The angels come to the home of a poor woman and her granddaughter who are thankful for their meager belongings.
“They show us that, yes, there is enough goodness left to bring out the star,” Taylor said.