As we continue to deepen our faith and build excitement on our journey toward Christmas, be sure to join us this Sunday for our Christmas Pageant Sunday!

Our hope is that this will, once again, become an annual tradition.  The pandemic put the brakes on this annual event, but now it is back.  

From the first Christmas Pageant in 1220 when St. Francis set up a live nativity scene in front of a church, to Broadway productions with live camels, to Sunday School plays, the Christmas Pageant has long been a symbol of meaning (and, let’s face it, fun!) at Christmas time.

Through story and songs, our Christmas pageant is a great interactive way to remember the story of Christmas and contemplate the point of it all: that God became one of us in Jesus Christ; the incarnation.

It’s often the case that Christmas pageants don’t go smoothly.  A shepherd may wander off, sheep may start crying, and some halos may be bent.  But that’s okay.  In fact, it’s a good way to remember that the first Christmas was full of surprises, too!

Just like in a Christmas pageant, the first Christmas was filled with people who weren’t sure what was going on.  As much as Christ’s birth was foretold, no one was really expecting it that night.  From the shepherds to the animals, to Mary and Joseph themselves, everyone was more than a bit bewildered.  Had it not been for the angels explaining the monumental nature of what was happening in that stable in Bethlehem, the whole thing may have become a chaotic memory of a chaotic night.

So this Sunday, as much as you know the story, watch it unfold as if for the first time.  Enter the spontaneity of the moment—the moment God chose to enter our world and our lives in a new and surprising way.

We are called to be a community of the Good News.  And a Christmas pageant is a wonderful way to embrace the wonderful news that God chooses to work through ordinary means with ordinary people.  People like you and like me.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic