Re-creating Christmas in Your Community

We’ve all heard the Christmas story dozens of times. I expect many of you can even recite sections of Luke 2 telling of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.

Yet, while we Christians are intimately familiar with details of the holy birth from shepherds to angels to the “no room for them in the inn,” many are not. For them, it’s just a story and they’d rather focus on holiday gifts and secular celebrations.

We can be complacent and choose to accept that this is just how the world is today. Or, we can opt to bring the reality of Jesus’ birth to people in a new, heart-changing way. But how? In a recently-published book, Re-creating Christmas—A DIY Outreach for Churches of Any Size edited by Tammy Tilley and Robin Fogle, Warner Press presents a community outreach event to bring others to Jesus. Now is the time to consider and begin planning for such an event.

Tapping into congregations well-experienced in re-creating the first Christmas, this book offers a step-by-step guide for bringing Bethlehem, at the time of Christ’s birth, to life. That happens through role-playing, character development, storytelling, setting, engagement, activities and more.

This quote from the book summarizes well the goal of this Christmas outreach: Creating realistic scenes immerses your guests, most of them unchurched, into the life-changing reality of Christ. This personal engagement allows them to experience the truth that Jesus came for each one of them.

The opportunity of connecting people to the Christmas story in a meaningful, relevant and personal way offers them the best gift of Christmas—the hope and love of Jesus.

While this initially seems an ambitious undertaking, it’s made easier by this detailed DIY book, online tutorials and downloadable files. Suggested scripts, set construction, lists of Hebrew names for characters, costume design, specific foods to serve, and games to play—all are covered in this informative book. It even covers the need to find a “real baby” to play the part of Baby Jesus. 

This guide stresses the importance of creating special moments for kids, making guests feel welcome, engaging attendees, praying, and characters talking about the hope they have in the Messiah. It’s exciting to consider the potential in this community outreach, which takes people back in time—into the culture and marketplace of Bethlehem. The book includes suggested shops to set up in an historic re-creation of Jesus’ birthplace. My creativity sparked as I read of bread, candy, fruit, and vegetable shops, and of weavers, jewelry-makers and other artisans. Imagine the creative talent you can tap into within your faith family to create historic Bethlehem.

Re-creating Christmas benefits more than just those attending. It also benefits those who plan and participate as they reconnect to the Christmas story in a new way. Working together builds community within the church and strengthens relationships. And, because we believers can also become distracted by the materialism and secular busyness of Christmas, Re-creating Christmas centers us on the real reason for Christmas—celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To order your print or digital copy of Re-creating Christmas—A DIY Outreach for Churches of Any Size, visit the Warner Press website by clicking here.

While writer Audrey Kletscher Helbling has never experienced a large-scale re-creation of Christmas, she’s seen smaller versions in live Nativities staged outdoors in winter. In Minnesota that means bundling in layers and pretending that a snowy setting is anything but. Such events, despite the weather, still draw crowds and bring people to view Christmas from a biblical perspective.