The celebration of the birth of Jesus is often called “the reason for the season,” and local churches across Chattanooga are dedicated to spreading the message through live nativity presentations and pageants.
President of the Chattanooga Stake Center Jason Isaacson oversees seven congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints across the Chattanooga area. This year, the Stake Center will hold its annual walk-through nativity, directed by Jeanine Gee.
“We want it to look like old Bethlehem and try to recreate that space to make it more immersive for people,” Gee says.
Throughout the process of putting on the production, community is all around. “It’s been kind of neat to work with so many people I never knew before and get to see their service,” she says.
While there are allotted budgets for the live nativity production, those helping are not paid directly, instead volunteering for the love of sharing the gospel.
One component of getting the nativity off the ground is finding people who are willing to take on the roles of the different biblical characters.
“We put out notices that anyone who’s interested in doing it can volunteer, and they bring various skills and backgrounds and looks,” Gee says. “We’re working on the process of trying to get them cast in these various roles.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also enjoys collaboration with other churches in their community.
“We are welcoming outside participation for musical numbers,” Gee says. “In the past, we’ve had great participation from other choirs and people and ensembles coming to share their love for Christ.”
Isaacson grew up going to drive-through nativities, so for him, this nativity walk-through is nostalgic.
When Isaacson and his family moved to the Signal Mountain area, he was searching for a way to connect with some of the other Chattanooga congregations, and they decided to put together this collaborative nativity.
This year will have more musical components as a guide walks guests through the nativity. Also new this year is a sensory version of the nativity with smaller crowd sizes to accommodate families and children who may have additional needs.
At First-Centenary United Methodist Church, the children’s ministry offers a non-rehearsal pageant. Ellen Ward leads the group of young performers for the first time this year. Unique from other pageants, with cast roles and outside rehearsals, kids are invited to dress as whatever character they’d like to embody and just show up.
“We can have multiples of the roles,” Ward says. “From what I understand, there have been times in the past when there have been several Josephs or several donkeys — and that’s okay.”
Each character will walk down to a song about their character, and kids who are too young to walk are escorted by their parents. All ages are welcome to participate.
Some live nativities include animals, facilitated by organizations like Noah’s Little Ark, a business that rents (and delivers) animals for parties, petting zoos and, during the Christmas season, nativities. Rich and Cindy LaValla consider the work they do with local churches a ministry and an opportunity for kids to interact with animals.
The churches will usually provide the wood and manger, and Noah’s Little Ark provides the hay and other props to make the space look rustic.
“We bring two alpacas to represent the camels, and we have sheep, goats, chickens, cows, a donkey and a mini horse,” Cindy says.
Throughout the performance, the animals do what they would do at home: gnaw on hay, graze and rest, but their presence makes the scene more realistic and also leaves an impression on the people who pass through.
“It brings tears to my eyes sometimes that I get paid to do it,” Cindy says. “You feel like you’re back in time.”
For more information about Chattanooga’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, visit their Facebook Page, chattanoogatnstakegoodnews. For information about First-Centenary United Methodist Church’ s children’s ministry, go to firstcentenary.com/first-kids-children-s-ministry. To book and learn more about Noah’s Little Ark, visit noahslittleark.net/PettingZoo.
