Bringing Christmas to Life… The Living Nativity
Sr. Betty Gaiss, OP, Pastoral Minister, St. Michael Parish, Grand Ledge

If you want to deepen your experience of the miracle of Christmas – and do so at a pageant that might have made noted Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille a bit green with envy – then you want to join the large throng on hand at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Ann Arbor, for the Living Nativity Procession and Festival.  Usually held in the evening of the third Sunday in Advent, 2008 marked the event’s 14th year of combining impressive numbers of volunteers and numerous live animals to dramatize the birth of Jesus for the hundreds of parishioners on hand.

Introduced in 1994 under the supervision of then-pastor Father Charlie Irvin and the parish’s director of religious education, Tim DiLaura, the event continues to flourish under the leadership of pastor Father Jim McDougall and the current DRE, Ellen Ward.  This year, approximately 900 parishioners and friends actively participated in the evening’s festivities.  As has become the tradition, a menagerie of sheep, goats, calves, donkeys, llamas (“subbing” for the requisite camels) and a pony, along with costumed volunteers, lend great realism to the scenes that have come to be associated with the Savior’s birth.  Some of the better behaved livestock also get to be part of the scenery inside the church as the story unfolds.

“Our Nativity Procession,” says Ellen Ward, “tells the story of the birth of our Lord in music, narration, light drama, and through simple, recreated scenes of the scriptural writings describing the event.  Each year, the Nativity of Jesus remains timelessly the same and yet, changes in its focus on different scriptures and musical pieces lend a feeling of an always fresh and new approach to this joyful story.”

Through music and narration, the telling of that story begins inside the church, itself.  At the appropriate point in the narration, each of the characters—the shepherds, angels, kings, and the tamer animals—enters the church.  After the story has been told, all those in attendance are invited to light candles and walk out into the night.

Led in procession, the participants tour the town of Bethlehem which has been reconstructed for them on parish grounds. 

There, in the crowded town, the sojourners meet merchants, travelers and soldiers.  They see the donkey tied down for the night and they meet up with shepherds tending their flock.  There they witness the glory of the angels, and the royalty of the kings with their “camels.”  At the end of their journey, the marchers return to the warmth of the church where they find that a stable has been built upon the choir risers.  There in the manger, a baby boy baptized in the parish that year, and his parents play the roles of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.  This year it worked out that the child playing the role Baby Jesus was a six-week old boy who had been baptized earlier that day! 

The Nativity concludes with songs of joy, with everyone joining in the singing.  The action then moves to the parish activity center for a grand party of games for the children and refreshments for all.  The festival activities are a labor of love contributed by the Knights of Columbus council at St. Francis of Assisi.

“Parish-wide involvement is the key to success,” underscores Ms. Ward.  “So many dedicated volunteers and excited children and adults come forward each year to give of their time, their support and the generous sharing of their talents.”  She estimates that about 150 adults and children play costumed roles and other supporting parts to enable the procession and festival to be the success that everyone relishes so much. 

Belinda McGuire and her family are representative of the parish community that volunteers for the pageant and festival.  They supply farm animals for the celebration and have provided small steers, a pony and goats.  Additionally, Ms. McGuire’s son serves as one of the shepherds.  Other families also bring donkeys, sheep and the faux camels, the llamas.

As expected, the evening has become a big favorite with the community.  According to Ms. Ward, crowds upward of 600 to 800 people are on hand each year—the actual number depends largely upon the cooperation of the weather.  This year, the turnout was among the largest because there was a mild shift in what, until that Sunday, had been some pretty frigid temperatures.  This was a welcome reversal from the experience in 2007 when an extremely heavy snowfall caused the parish to cancel the event.       

Of course, St. Francis of Assisi Parish is blessed with an abundance of resources upon which to draw to make this such a grand event.  The key ingredients are spirit, enthusiasm, creativity, and a willingness on the part of its members to become involved.  At the same time, those are ingredients that almost any parish—irrespective of its size—has in abundance as well.  After all, not every production needs to be on a DeMille-sized scale to be a hit.  As they’ve learned in Ann Arbor, even a camel that looks a lot like a llama can get the job done nicely!                   

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Contact information:

Ms. Ellen Ward
Director of Religious Education
St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Ann Arbor
Phone:  734-821-2132