It has always been a favorite Christmas story of mine: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It so beautifully illustrates the outreach of a local church to the rowdy children of a neighborhood family, the Herdmans. But it became even more dear to me one Christmas when I saw it in real life on the platform of a Church of the Nazarene.

My fiftieth Christmas was spent in Clearwater, Florida, celebrating the holiday with my in-laws. It was the Sunday before Christmas and we were going to their church, Clearwater Central. I found myself worshiping with a small congregation of mostly senior citizens. My father-in-law had gone to practice on Saturday to be a wise man, so I knew he had a part in the Christmas pageant. But I wasn't prepared for the colorful, delightful way we would commemorate the Savior's birth.

As we gathered before the service, a wonderful power point presentation was showing on the projection screen. It included some attractive Christmas artwork, some scripture, a list of birthday greetings for three church members, the names of that Sunday's greeters, and some announcements regarding the life of the church. The final picture on this pre-service presentation was a lovely golden cross with poinsettias placed in the center. All this was shown while an elderly man played jazz-style Christmas music on the piano for the prelude.

What a precious picture of contemporary and traditional expressions side by side!

The pastor welcomed everyone and invited a lady to begin with a musical presentation. She was obviously experienced as a performer. In her semi-formal red dress she freely and expressively sang "The Christmas Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which I thought were rather unusual for opening a worship service. The jazz pianist and a white-bearded guitarist played improvisational solos between her vocals, like a typical big band performance. As she finished her song she briefly commented on how fantastic it was to enjoy her first Christmas as a Christian. I discovered later that she was a "complete Jew" and had been a nightclub singer.

We sang three traditional carols from the hymnal and then it was time for the children's program. As the congregation sang "Joy to the World," nativity characters processed down the aisle. It was obvious to me that these were probably not children whose parents were church members. Some were African American, some Hispanic, and every one of them in tennis shoes under their bathrobes and costumes. They sang one verse of "Rudolf" and then did motions to "Away in a Manger." They exited and were ready for the second grand entrance in the form of a true pageant.

Various solos by adults cued each character for his or her entry. I watched while an African-American Mary tripped on her robe as she went up the platform steps and plopped her baby-doll Jesus into the manger. Her Hispanic husband, Joseph, stood beside her in their stable covered with large palm branches. Half a dozen angels lined up nearby, both male and female, the lead angel having a gold tinsel halo and the others silver. Five shepherds entered on the next solo and knelt with their faces all the way to the floor so that our view from the pew was a row of bottoms and tennis shoes. I watched in amazement as they kept that position for about ten minutes! As the shepherds knelt still, Joseph began to yawn and stretch and scratch. The angels had been instructed at one point to fold their hands and bow their heads. I noticed that someone initiated swaying to the music. I wondered if that was planned! Two boy angels got a little restless and one of them decided he needed a big stretch. His arm knocked the halo off his neighbor angel, who I guessed might be his brother when he promptly punched the offending angel in the stomach!

All of this pageantry occurred during the singing of "O Holy Night," "Mary, Did You Know?" and "There is a Savior" by several soloists.The finale of the pageant was the entrance made by three wise men, all retirees. They carried their printed lyrics to "We Three Kings" attached to their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Singing verse one together, they paraded down the aisle. Then each one sang a solo verse as he placed his gift in front of the baby Jesus. As they attempted the final verse together they encountered a rhythmic problem they couldn't seem to resolve. Finally, half-way through the verse one "wise guy" stopped and made a suggestion: "We've come a long way to bring these gifts, so we'd better start over and sing it right!" After the song, that same wise man, my father-in-law, got a chuckle with his comment, "We'd better go home another way," as they exited down a different aisle.

The pastor gave a challenging message from the first chapter of Luke, reminding us that nothing is impossible with God. It gave me hope that day to see the variety of ways God reaches and touches people through His church. I became so blessed by the picture this Christian community painted for me, a visitor, in their midst. All ages, all ethnic groups, all styles of music, all methods of communication, all of it done without the pomp and expertise of a professional "large-church production."

Through the simplicity and beauty of a low-budget amateur Christmas pageant, I worshiped with those folks with such joy.

I asked the director of the pageant if she knew of the Herdmans or the story of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and she said no. I think I'll get it for her as a "thank you" gift for her ministry to my soul that Christmas Sunday!

Becky Hancock

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.