By Cody Wendt | FāVS News Columnist
Nativity displays and pageants based on the biblical account of Christ’s birth are commonplace at this time of year, but Spokane’s South Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church truly goes the extra mile.
For close to two decades, the church has been holding an annual one-weekend event called the Journey to Bethlehem, advertised as a “walk-through pageant” and referred to by associate pastor John Roney as a “living Nativity.” The event features a model village of around 20 buildings, more than 100 volunteer actors hailing from a variety of denominations, and an assortment of animals like sheep, donkeys, cows and birds. Thousands of visitors attend each year.
“When people come, they enter the church auditorium, and they’re greeted,” Roney said. “We have a musical concert going on as they wait. A tour guide is the narrator for their experience. They follow the tour guide through a village that’s set up to look like Bethlehem would’ve looked 2,000 years ago when Jesus was born.”
In addition to the wise men, shepherds and holy family, attendees will meet actors portraying ancient artisans like shopkeepers, merchants and innkeepers.
“You go through and get this sense of searching, longing for this thing that’s missing,” Roney said. “It’s kind of weaving together this story about searching for something greater. It culminates in the scene of the birth of Jesus; there’s the stable.”
John Roney’s wife, Taylor Roney, is one of the event’s many volunteers, providing an orientation of sorts for visitors awaiting their tours.
“I normally am a teacher year-round, but I do take time to act in the Journey to Bethlehem and help out in the presentation room, which is where I introduce the story in Journey to Bethlehem and tell people what they might see in the village,” she said. “…As a teacher, I talk for a living. It’s a lot of fun just getting to know more people in the Spokane area — talking to different families, how far they’ve come from just to be a part of Journey.”
This year’s Journey to Bethlehem runs Friday (Dec. 5) from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 4-7 p.m. at the corner of 57th Ave. and Freya. Attendance at the Journey to Bethlehem is free of charge and requires no reservation, with each “tour” taking around 25 minutes. John Roney advises visitors to dress warmly for the outdoor experience.
“It’s an event that I think shares what we’re all about as a Christian community,” he said. “To experience the love of a God who’s been searching for us our whole life. That’s really what the Journey to Bethlehem is about, is searching for a God who’s been searching for us in Jesus.”
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