Spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars to decorate our houses with colored lights and plastic reindeer may be an all-American oddity, but the tradition of the crèche – small enough to arrange on a table, or life-sized – is European. A brief search online indicates the phenomenon of presepi to be especially popular in Italy, where elaborate nativity scenes are set up a full month before Christmas, and are often the sites of open masses. The custom is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223, when he constructed a simple straw manger in a cave in the town of Greccio and held Christmas Eve mass there. It’s unclear when the elaborate staging of drama around Christ’s birth became popular with the less-expressive rituals of Protestantism; perhaps around the advent of tinsel, baubles and colored lights? However, pastor Kenneth Walsh of the Old Dutch Church in Kingston confi rms the presumed origins of the nativity. He and his congregation invite you to park your car and come uptown to the corner of Wall and Main to see its live version of the holy night.
The Living Nativity takes place in the churchyard on December 21, 22 and 23, for three shows each night at 6, 6:30 and 7 p.m. Pastor Walsh reports this production, now in its 57th year, to be one of joyful audience participation. Church and community members are encouraged to don the garb of antiquity and become cast members in the reenactment. To join in, just bring your enthusiasm and arrive a half an hour before the performance to get costumed.
“Sometimes we have a six-foot wise man, and sometimes we have a two-foot wise man,” says Walsh, indicating the often-surprising composition of players. He appears to take things as they come, adding matter-of-factly, “When you’re almost 350 years old [the church, that is]…a lot of the events are longtime traditions.” And a little variation on the theme is to be expected now and then. This year’s production is being organized by the church’s youth group. Local animals will also be on hand, but the pastor lamented jokingly, “We don’t have a live baby. I tried to convince my daughter, whose son was born two years ago, but…” He especially enjoys seeing fathers dress up and play out biblical scenes with their kids. What were those passages again about “becoming like little children” and “a child leading us” to humility and grace?
For more information about the Living Nativity at the Old Dutch Church at 272 Main Street in Kingston, contact (845) 338-6759.