LANSING, MI – When thinking of Christmas, immediately Santa Claus comes to mind, along with shopping until you drop, eating until you pop and over spending because you just cannot stop. As the song says “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”.
In most families it was a holiday tradition to gather around the television to watch black and white Christmas movie classics such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street”. Not much has changed through the years, we still get the same timeless classics but now we have upgraded to 3-D movies such as “Polar Express” and “The Christmas Carol”.
More recently the economy is down, job losses are at an all time high and foreclosures are in record breaking margins. Will Santa Claus be able to save Christmas?
A member of Tabernacle of David church wanted to step back in time before cell phones, email and facebook. They asked the pastor, Larry M. Trice, Jr., to present a live indoor nativity at the church. He thought it was a great idea. It was a daunting task but the entire church pulled together to make the “Welcome to Bethlehem” interactive nativity scene idea into a reality.
The first year they borrowed costumes from Trinity Church on Dunkel Road, who has an annual outdoor nativity scene.
Suzanne Minter, Director of Drama at the time, said, “The costumes were so beautiful, and looked so authentic that I had to explore the possibility of having live animals. I work with a lot of people from rural areas like St. Johns and Charlotte that I thought could assist us in getting animals.”
The first person she thought of was a co-worker who owned small farm animals. Minter called her co-worker and explained the situation and to her surprise, her co-worker told her that her mother had 2 donkeys that would work perfectly. She couldn’t believe it, donkeys would be the perfect type of animal for the nativity. Even though Minter’s co-worker’s mother, Cindy Morris, from Jerome, MI, lives about a hour away, she happily agreed to participate in the nativity.
Turning the church’s multi-purpose center into the town of Bethlehem required hard work and imagination. Art Craft Display, event service professionals, graciously provided the room dividers to the church at a tremendous discount. Props were acquired from both Riverwalk Theatre and Lansing Community College, and the manger was constructed out of old wooden fence sections. Members donated straw to cover and protect the floors and cider which is provided free to each guest.
The first year, the room was covered with painter’s paper, and a young man
from the Big Brother Big Sister program, Scott Johnson, who is majoring in art design, donated his time to create the nativity backdrop on the walls. Other church members and their families volunteered countless hours, and many late nights were spent painting the walls to make them look like the town of Bethlehem and the Shepherds Field, which is identified as the scene where the Angel of the Lord visited the shepherds and informed them of Jesus’ birth.
Minter said, “If you build it, they will come and come they did.”
The first year drew about 400 people. The response was overwhelming. Some people were actually in tears, as they listened to Sharon Lawrence-Taylor, dressed as an angel positioned at the manger, singing “Mary Did You Know”.
The first year was with the two donkeys, but the second year there was two donkeys, a very large sheep and a miniature pony.
Minter said, “Who knows what Cindy Morris and Harold Hauck will bring this year. Cindy and Harold completely donate their time and use of the animals. They work as a team and even participate by wearing costumes. It takes both donkeys to present the storyline, but you’ll have to come to find out how.”
Each year the nativity has grown and not just with the number of animals. Last year the Minister of Music, Antonio Trice added a heavenly host of singing angels along with angelic praise dancers for a very uplifting moving heaven scene. Last year even more people visited than the year before.
Minter said, “There is no Santa Claus, mistletoe or Rudolph, but the Tabernacle of David’s “Welcome To Bethlehem ” live nativity sure has a lot of Christmas spirit. What is Christmas spirit you ask? It is love that does not come in a pretty wrapped box or a shiny colorful gift bag. It comes straight from the heart. Tabernacle of David Church has a plan! Let us put CHRIST back in CHRISTmas. Let us turn our focus away from the temporal and focus on the eternal. If you are looking for love during this holiday season, we have got plenty to go round. After all, the birth of Jesus is the greatest love story ever told.”
