Christmas Letter from the Rector

One of the highlights for me in the Advent and Christmas season is the presentation of the story of the birth of Jesus by the children of Trinity on Christmas Eve. We are so fortunate to have an abundance of kids who are excited to participate in this special way of storytelling, along with dedicated parents, volunteers, and staff who bring all the many pieces together.

But the demographics of mainline Christian churches these days, including the Episcopal Church, show there are numerous congregations which skew older, with few, if any, families with young children in attendance. What about those parishes? Are they fated to miss out on the Christmas pageant tradition because they don’t have young people in their pews?

The bishop I worked with in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago used to tell a story about a church he served which had no children. So, they decided to challenge the notion that nativity plays can only be presented by children and instead of not having a pageant at all, elected to put one on with adults playing all the roles. And thus, they went about the process of putting together their Christmas play: deciding on a script, making the scenery, figuring out costumes, and—possibly the trickiest part of all—casting the various roles. In a church where you have children of various ages presenting the story, casting generally sorts itself out: the littlest ones playing sheep and angels, perhaps, and the older kids taking the parts with more lines or which require reading.

And if an actual baby (not a doll) is going to be the baby Jesus, then you want to make sure that Mary and Joseph are strong enough to safely handle a wriggling human. At this all-adult pageant, though, casting wasn’t so easy. It turned out that many people gravitated toward the same part: everyone wanted to be Mary, and bring baby Jesus to the world.

So, that’s what they did. Instead of limiting themselves to just one, anyone who wanted the role got to be the mother of Jesus. Multiple Marys—lots of them! Multiple God-bearers, multiple people bringing Light and Love and Peace into the world in human form.

What a great image, not just for a pageant…not just for Christmas Eve…but throughout the year: all of us birthing Christ into the world. Each of us feeling a proud responsibility to tend, nurture, and fiercely protect this precious and holy being who will transform the world into the place God has always envisaged.

I wish you a Merry Mary Christmas.

Elizabeth+
The Rev. Elizabeth Molitors, Rector