Ann Arbor church's living manger brings story of Christmas to passersby

Mary and Joseph (a.k.a. Jessica and Matt Doletzky) pose beside Geoffrey the camel at last year's Live Nativity.

Passing by the corner of William and South State streets in downtown Ann Arbor during any other day of the year, one will see a tranquil stone church and across the street, the red and black awning of the Jimmy Johns sandwich shop.

But today, on Christmas Eve, the scene will look quite different. Live animals, including two sheep, a donkey, and a camel named Geoffrey, will fill the manger with people dressed as Mary and Joseph to complete the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor’s Live Nativity, which they offer to the public every Christmas Eve.

Children and families come to pet the animals and interact with Mary and Joseph. Some kids have never heard the Christmas story, and ask who the people are and why they are dressed funny and standing outside holding a baby.

Others know the story well and ask Mary if she actually will ride the donkey into the church for the service. (She won’t, the donkey walks with no passengers, at least it does when it’s not acting too stubborn to come down the aisle, which is about every other year).

Not 40 minutes from this very intersection is another kind of Christmas story. They have a pony and people dressed up as Mary and Joseph, but this Christmas story is told via drive thru. I read an article titled, “Church re-creates Jesus’ birth,” and then read on to learn that the re-creation of Jesus’ birth would be done through a scripted CD that people were instructed to play in their cars while they drove through the live scenes of the nativity. The drive-thru experience is promised to take no more than 10 minutes . Now, maybe I’m a traditionalist, but this sits with me the wrong way. A drive-thru Christmas pageant meant to re-create Christmas Eve seems like a stretch.

If we were to be honest, the re-creation of Jesus’ birth probably involves more waiting and less drama. It probably involved waiting for visitors to come, on foot or on camel, but either way, very slow modes of transportation. It may have involved an LED-type star, or maybe it was just a clear beautiful night and all the stars seemed bright.

In any case, if we were to truly recreate Christmas Eve, it would probably be a time of sitting and simply being with one another. It would be a time of experiencing things the old-fashioned way; with conversation, humble clothing, and the company of family and friends. And I suppose, for Mary and Joseph, it would include the smells of animals and barn.

Whatever your plans are this Christmas Eve, perhaps you can experience them at a slower pace. Perhaps you can experience the waiting and the anticipation. Perhaps you can experience this Christmas Eve through the lens of a child - where stars are magical, where the petting of a sheep inadvertently causes giggles, and where the silence of the night, if we can turn off the radio and allow it, can conjure our imaginations and bring us peace.

Darcy Crain is the associate minister at the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor.