Sharing good tidings

Here’s a Christmas riddle: What do wooden palm trees, a group of stubborn sheep and baby Jesus have in common? They’re part of a set, cast and theme of an ever-evolving live Nativity at New Life Assembly of God at Broadway Avenue and Bowdish Road.

What started with a simple manger set played out in a church parking lot has progressed into a show with top-notch acoustics, special effects and professional sets that are put into place with a crane.

Starting Friday, the church will put on a seventh year of nightly shows that revisit the Biblical story of the birth of Christ – a story sometimes left behind in the mega-billion-dollar retail fest called Christmas.

“I think it puts the focus back on, pardon the pun, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season,’ ” said Steve Williams, pastor of New Life Assembly of God.

The event is a major outreach for the church and culminates months of planning, hundreds of hours of donated labor and thousands of dollars in materials. Shows are a major commitment for more than 70 actors and volunteers, who start meeting in spring and rehearsing in the summer.

Performances run on scheduled nights at 15. minute intervals for an hour and a half. In spite of nasty winds, snow and rain, the shows – featuring child performers ages 5 to 15 and a group of behind the scenes adults – always go on.

“Our palm tree actually broke this year because of one of the storms. But we just keep going,” joked Kym McPhie, a 34-year-old backstage volunteer.

When the professionally recorded narrative of the Christmas story plays, children act their parts, she said.

“They really have to listen, and for kids that’s hard. It’s a really fast run through. It’s probably about eight minutes,” McPhie said.

Spectators sit on bleachers and watch the show. Afterward, Santa appears, and families are treated to cookies, coffee and cocoa.

Over the years, a mountain set was added to capture the moment an angel of God alerted shepherds to Christ’s birth. Another set was designed for when the three wise men visited King Herod. Sets were painted by Wanda McMaster, a Wenatchee resident who died last year.

Mark Wesselius, a 52-year-old who lives near Rockford, is a professional electrician. The church member helped take production lighting to higher levels, through the addition of four channels with four dimmers that project a combined 16 channels of light

Williams said the church may add real masonry but admitted that moving a rock wall could prove challenging.

“Jesus moved mountains, we can move a manger scene,” Williams said.

As the cast of child actors expanded, so did the cast of live animals. Originally, the Nativity had a Jerusalem donkey named Hotshot. Over the years, Hotshot gained a supporting cast of goats, sheep, rabbits and chickens. The church looked into getting a live camel, but the beast of burden proved too expensive.

“We have a petting zoo coming this year. We’ll see how that goes,” Williams said. “What do they say – never work with kids and animals? We’re working with both.”

With child actors you never know what you’ll get, including occasional costume glitches.

“We had a kid show up in bright orange snow boots,” Williams said.

Animals pose another set of challenges. Kids are told, “Don’t feed the donkey” (he gets bloated) and “Don’t stand behind the donkey” (he sometimes kicks).

“One year I was horrified to see a little girl lifting up his tail to see what was under there,” Williams said. Thankfully, Hotshot took the invasion of privacy in stride.

Last year, the troupe enthusiastically welcomed domesticated sheep. Unfortunately, the second the wooly critters were ushered off the truck, they experienced the feel of pavement on their little hooves for the first time, dropped to the ground and froze. Instead of trekking across the parking lot as a group, they arrived individually in wheel barrels.

Rabbits and chickens are low-maintenance and return home after evening performances. Larger farm animals spend a few nights in special pens set up on church grounds. Volunteers sleep at the church to watch over the animals. Still, Williams praises his neighbor’s patience for putting up with Hotshot occasionally braying into the wee hours.

The minister said the effort touches nearly every member of the congregation, which includes about 225 people. The production taps into their collective mechanical, building, sewing, acting and other expertise.

Local businesses donate everything from paint and wire to services. Past contributors include Valley Best-way Building Supplies Inc., Piersol Construction, Seco Construction Equipment, Columbia Paint and Coatings and Sellers Masonry.

The Nativity show even has a separate group of people who do nothing but pray for the wellbeing of the actors, volunteers and people attending the event.

All the efforts culminate Friday at 7 p.m., when the lights illuminate a meticulously crafted set as the narrative plays and costume-clad children enact an old tale that’s at the heart of Christianity.

If it goes at all like last year, about a thousand people will take a few minutes from their busy holiday schedules to attend.

Williams said he’s grateful to serve a congregation that supports his vision.

“What a great way to come together as a community and as a church.”