Scott Swanson
Crawfordsville Community Church leaders were interested in finding a way to reach out to their community.
Judging by the response, the church’s Living Nativity, held Friday and Saturday evenings, Dec. 12-13, was a good way to do it.
“I’ve had this idea for several years,” said Pastor Kelly Graham. “It seemed to be the right time this year.
“Part of what spurred this was I was driving around last year and looking at lights and there were not much there. We wanted something that people could drive by and enjoy.
“We wanted to put Crawfordsville on the map.”
He said church members jumped in with both feet. George and Sharon Virtue led the charge, he said.
Sharon Virtue spent two months, rising at 4 a.m. in the morning, sewing some 50 complete outfits for participants to wear.
“Everyone participating from our church had an outfit,” Graham noted.
Several men helped with the construction of a stable and other elements. The event included livestock in a corral next to the stable, angels directing traffic from Highway 228, and a wide selection of baked goods and hot drinks inside the sanctuary.
Visitors were given gift bags on their way out.
“We wanted to make sure everyone went away with a gift because Christ was a gift to us,” Graham said.
“They say 10 percent of the people in the church do all the work. This was a whole-church project. It got people excited. I’d say 80 or 90 percent of the church joined in.”
Guitarist Ron Diller of Silverton performed Christmas music in the sanctuary both nights.
“Ron makes the whole thing sweeter,” Graham said.
He said the church is already thinking of how it could do the event again.
“We probably had as much or more fun than the people who came. We didn’t have an agenda to bring people into the church. We really wanted it to be a gift to the community. Our heart is to share Christ with the community, to keep the focus on Him and the Word of God.”
Graham said the rest of the community appeared to respond to a card he sent out inviting them to participate by putting up lights. A number of houses throughout town were lit up, some quite thoroughly.
“We’re in dark times in our country and in this world,” he said. “We wanted to bring light and joy, peace on earth.”