Curate of St Faith’s Church, Lee-on-the-Solent
NEVER work with children or animals – how many times have you heard that?
Well, at St Faith’s Church, Lee-on-theSolent, that’s exactly what we did. We invited children and families from Lee-onthe-Solent and friends and family from further afield into St Faith’s to experience our very first Live Nativity, with real donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens and even a couple of pigs thrown in for good measure.
Nearly 350 people came to see the animals, dress up in nativity clothes and have their photograph taken with them, getting in the Christmas spirit.
But before we even got to the animals, we took people through a series of short, live dramas, re-enacting the Christmas story. Members of our congregation, including children from our church, acted as shepherds, wise men and angels – who sang, of course.
We also had an innkeeper and his wife to greet people and, of course, Mary and Joseph. One of our Josephs had flown in from Bahrain, where he was on duty with the Royal Navy, to join us.
The dramas took place in a transformed church, each station in a different nook, with its own scenery, hand-painted by artists within our own congregation.
And to get it all started, our vicar, Paul Chamberlain, played the role of the prophet Isaiah, who predicted these events thousands of years in advance. The scripts were written by resident children’s author Donna Vann, and were full of wit and fun, engaging for adults and children alike.
Children were able to write a Christmas message or prayer on a star and hang it on our Christmas tree and we had more than 300 golden stars representing the prayers and thoughts of our community by the end.
Last but not least, people were able to enter our Bulson Hall and enjoy festive refreshments, live music and a number of seasonal stalls.
People remarked on how rapt the children were as they went round, and some adults reported having a tear in their eye as well. I heard visitors say it was ‘tremendous’, ‘wonderful’ and they can’t wait to do it again next year.