Christmas pageant canceled for good
The annual Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant will not take place in 2020 — or again in the foreseeable future.
First Baptist Church Fort Lauderdale decided to permanently cancel the annual Christmas show, which has become a South Florida tradition over the past 36 years.
The award-winning, Broadway-style show tells the Christmas story with bright performances from hundreds of volunteers, performers and live animals. The 2019 show sold more than 30,000 tickets, running from from the end of November through mid-December.
The decision to cancel the pageant came from church leadership earlier this year, ac
cording to a church-wide email sent in January.
Although it’s unlikely the event would have taken place this year with new social distancing and large gathering restrictions, the decision to cancel was not in response to COVID-19.
“For the past three decades, we have seen the gracious hand of God directing the efforts of committed Servant Leaders who, year after year, contributed countless hours of service in the Award-winning Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant,” Pastor James Welch said in the email. “After seeking direction from God in prayer for months, the Executive Team at First Baptist Fort Lauderdale has decided to transition from the Annual Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant.”
In a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Welch, who was appointed lead pastor in early 2019, said the church decided to end the Christmas Pageant to focus resources on other community-serving initiatives, including a yearround arts ministry.
“We firmly believe that God is leading us into a new day that will take us on a path to become a more outward-focused church, placing more emphasis on a variety of evangelistic and discipleship initiatives outside the physical walls of our church,” Welch wrote.
There are currently no plans to replace the Christmas Pageant.