Faith coalition of Algonac putting on live nativity display Saturday night at city park
Visitors and residents will be able to watch the classic biblical Christmas story play out at Algonac Waterfront Park Saturday night over a live nativity scene along the boardwalk.
The event itself, dubbed the Nativity Live Experience, is being put on by a local faith coalition.
But Dan Stewart, campus pastor for Woodside Bible Church, said the idea sprang from a discussion with Algonac City Manager Denice Gerstenberg at a recent meeting for the group.
“She met with us just to have the conversation of what we can do as a group of churches for the good of community or for community engagement,” Steward said, referring to the Faith Coalition of Algonac, which meets monthly. “So, we were talking about summer events and then how difficult it is for winter, and then she said, ‘Well, what about doing something like an activity?’
“And that’s when I said, ‘Well, you know, one of our campuses of Woodside does a great big living nativity.’ But that’s huge. Then, she said, ‘I bet if we do it together as a community, I bet we could do it.’ We talked about it and decided to go for it.”
Gerstenberg said she was excited the coalition put the event together, adding she and her husband would be participating "as shepherds in one of the 'time-travel portals.'"
The event and work with the coalition, she said, was the result of coordinating with groups citywide to avoid event conflicts since she started as manager four years ago.
"Sometimes there were many of the same events, like multiple craft shows and holiday cookie walks. Often events were scheduled on the same day, competing for participants," Gerstenberg said via email. "There was a need to bring all these organizations together, including the churches. The city took the initiative to bring all of these groups together, meeting twice per year to assemble a complete calendar of all annual events and a comprehensive point-of-contact list. ... That is how the Faith Coalition started."
While the nativity display will remain up through this month with silhouette cutouts with descriptive placards at the park, the experience with live participants is only set for 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Those interested in touring the display can sign up for remaining slots at www.nativityalgonac.com. Stewart said they’ll also be able to accommodate walk-ins Saturday, and that they were prepared for 600 people to attend the free event.
According to a release this month, visitors will check-in at that their scheduled time and are encouraged to expect to dress in wintery attire while out in the cold for the event.
The Faith Coalition’s goal is to spur hope and joy for the season, they said. As of early Thursday, there were still plenty of openings left.
“It takes probably 25 minutes to go through the experience. And then, there’s also a petting zoo afterward and hot cocoa and warming fires that they can linger (at) as long as they’d like,” Stewart said. “You’re walking down on the park area of the boardwalk and you’ll encounter five different characters in biblical attire that’ll be sharing kind of their experience and the crises they were going through during this first Christmas night. So, it’ll be dramatized (in) five different scenes in the park.”
For more information, visit the sign-up website or the Faith Coalition of Algonac’s Facebook page.
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Faith coalition putting on live nativity display Saturday night at Algonac park
