Date: 17 December 2021
The Christmas story is well-known to many and it’s wonderful to share it with new generations. Children and adults from around the parish of Cove were recently invited to discover the story of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus through an interactive production of ‘A Christmas Journey’.
“180 children from our church family and three of our schools in the parish, discovered all about the first Christmas when they visited us in Christ Church and undertook a Christmas Journey. It was a production that allowed the children to engage all their senses and was aimed at Year 1s, although the adults enjoyed the journey equally as much. At the start they were all given a bag knitted by members of the church in lockdown and as they travelled through the church, they collected items to remind them of their visit to each station, such as a gold chocolate coin, some sheep’s wool, and a passport. They made a craft to take home as well as a craft to decorate the church with so that on their return to our Christmas services they could point it out to their family and friends.”
“Led by a Bethlehem tour Guide they visited Mary in her house, where she was preparing unleavened bread and were astonished when the Angel Gabriel came to visit. They travelled to see Joseph hard at work and learnt about his job and in between showing them the piece of furniture he was making, he explained where he and Mary had to travel to and why. The children were then sent through passport control where they enjoyed stamping their passports, after which they headed to the Bethlehem tourist office to see if they could find some accommodation for Joseph and Mary.”
“They travelled to the East seeing some scrolls on the way, so they understood how we knew all about that first Christmas. They found a wise man living in a beautiful tent and met his camel called Clarence. Whilst sat in the wise man’s tent, they were able to talk about what gifts they would take Baby Jesus having seen and smelt the gifts that the wise men were taking.”
“During their visit to the Shepherd’s cave they met his sheep dog Alfie, Susie the sheep and her new-born lamb, and they learnt what our shepherd did all day and the three golden rules that a shepherd must abide by. As each group finished their journey, they gathered at the front for a grand finale that had teachers, Learning Support Assistants and parents, not to mention the children, amazed at the scene before them and the realisation that this was not just a story but really did happen 2000 years ago.”
Christ Church had some excellent feedback from the schools and have already had requests for further performances next year. The actors and support team loved putting it together and can’t wait to do it all over again for Christmas 2022!