For years, Second Baptist Church has shared the message of Christmas with the rest of Odessa with its unique Annual Live Nativity scene.
This year, the Live Nativity returns for a 67th year and will take place from 7-9 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23 and 7-8 p.m. Dec. 24 at Second Baptist Church.
Second Baptist Church pastor Jackie Brem says it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to offer the Live Nativity as a gift to the community each year.
“It’s an honor to share the story of Jesus and to share the story of his birth and to share the hope that he brings,” Brem said. “So we’re excited to be able to share this with Odessa and the surrounding areas. We’ve also got our setup ready. We’re excited about it this year.”
The event started in 1955.
Each year, members of the church take part, dressing up as Mary, Joseph as well as the wise men and shepherds.
They also have livestock involved.
“We’ll have sheep out in front,” Brem said. “We’ll have a donkey since we always have a donkey. We’ll have music playing. It’s about a 30-minute set. We have music and scripture reading. We alternate between the two. It’s an opportunity for people to not only see the story but also hear the story as well.”
About 40 people total help take part with most of the cast members doubling up.
“We have people who do it multiple times,” Brem said. “We have people who help us get dressed and help us take care of that. We have people who provide us soup, which is great on cold nights. We have four people who take care of the animals and helping them get ready. … It’s probably about 40 or 50 that are helping.”
There won’t be too many differences between this year’s Live Nativity and in years past.
“Really, this year and last year are going to be very similar,” Brem said. “We re-did our audio last year and added a few things this year. It’s going to be very similar to last year. Starting last year, we had a new star put up. One thing that we would like to do this year is we have a food pantry at our church and we would love for people to come by and bring some nonperishable food or cans to drop off so that we can keep food in our pantry.”
The setup for each live nativity doesn’t take too long.
“It takes a Saturday,” Brem said. “We gathered on a Saturday and put up the set in our courtyard. We have some folks who dedicate their time to getting it ready. We go through our costumes about a month in advance to make sure they’re ready to go. Then we start signing up people right after Thanksgiving so that we can get the slots filled. Then it gets really busy right before with us making sure we have everything ready to go.”
But it’s all a labor of love.
“It’s great to be able to proclaim the message of Jesus to our community and the message of love and that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,” Brem said. “It’s the message that God loves us. I heard someone say that our Live Nativity is our Christmas card to the community. It’s an opportunity to tell the community that we love them and that God loves them.”
It’s a show that’s also become a part of other families’ Christmas traditions.
“We’re excited because we have people who say it’s their family tradition to come by and view the Live Nativity,” Brem said. “We have people who look forward to coming by and we’re excited about that as well. It’s neat to be a part of other people’s Christmas traditions.”
For more information about the Live Nativity, go to tinyurl.com/kss8ujrv.
