(ABP) — Regardless of size or budget, any church can make sure visitors hear the message of Christ during the season, according to those involved in church Christmas productions.
The live camel, flying angel and quadraphonic sound are nice, but that's not what music minister Allen Case hopes visitors remember from Severns Valley Baptist Church's Christmas pageant.
“We have the opportunity to present something that the world does not have the ability to present,” said Case, who wrapped up his 23rd consecutive Christmas pageant Sunday night in Elizabethtown, Ky. “And that is the love of Jesus Christ coming to the earth in human form.
“That is our one golden opportunity.”
Rather than asking guests to walk the aisle, they are instructed to fill out a card if they want to share their decision and receive a follow-up visit, Case said.
“Our original intention was to make this an evangelistic thrust, and that is the primary focus that we've had with it down through the years.”
Maintaining an evangelistic message is one of five suggestions that Case has for churches of any size seeking to host a Christmas pageant.
The long-time music minister has had several years to develop a list of suggestions. Case had been leading the church's “Singing Christmas Tree” pageant for eight years when he decided they should add another component. He recruited his neighbor and friend Don Phillips, a local community theater producer, to write and direct a drama about the life of Christ.
Today, the program, titled “Behold the King” draws hundreds of visitors. “A lot of families consider this part of their Christmas and it's been a great ministry through the years,” Case noted.
For Agape Baptist Church in Scottsboro, Ala., a Christmas musical doesn't mean the traditional candlelit cantata either. It means building a cruise ship and sewing costumes for the “Cricket County Christmas Cruise.”
Randy Sharpe, Agape minister of music, described the production as a “whole-church project.” More than 100 church members participated by singing, serving, acting, cooking, building the boat deck sets or providing technical support.
The dinner theater is a “great way to reach the unchurched,” Sharpe said. “It's a non-threatening invitation to church.”
NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville, Ala., is seeking to reach the unchurched as well. “A Reality Christmas” shows what can happen to an ordinary family man when he gets too wrapped up in his job and the television. Through a series of dreams straight from reality television, he comes to discover what's truly real and important at Christmastime. The original drama written by a church member includes more than 300 singers, from children to adults.
“Singing Christmas trees” continue to be popular as a community outreach tool during the Christmas season. The tree has become an important tradition at Moundville Baptist Church in Moundville, Ala., noted pastor Scott Stevens. “It is a celebration of the season and who Christ is. We want the community to see that we truly celebrate Jesus.”
He added that the event has become an excellent outreach tool and many who wouldn't normally attend church will attend the presentation.
That is also the case with the “Bethlehem walks” presented by many churches. The members of Cropwell Baptist Church in Alabama are praying for more than 1,000 families to travel “Back to Bethlehem,” which is the first major Christmas project at the church. About 75 costumes were sewn and more than a dozen roofed structures were built for the event. It includes a 25-minute tour of Bethlehem dramatizing the night of Jesus' birth.
Christmas will be indoors and outdoors at Union Hill Baptist Church, Oneonta, Ala., as it hosts its 11th annual “Christmas in the Country.” Pastor Bill Barnett called the holiday event a “gift to the community” that is considered by many to be the kickoff of the holiday season. “For some of us, it's just not Christmas yet until we've done ‘Christmas in the Country,'” he explained.
Since its inception, the event has included white-light decorations, symbolizing Jesus as the light of the world, and a live nativity guests may walk or drive through.
Barnett said as the church has grown, the Christmas event has evolved and become larger, estimating that about 200 church members are involved in the production, that has become an evangelistic tool.
— David Winfrey is news director of the Kentucky Western Recorder and Susan Chaffin Goggins is a correspondent for The Alabama Baptist.