If you’re looking for an activity to get you in the Christmas spirit, you may want to check out the live nativity scene to be held this weekend on the bluff behind the Canaan Baptist Church-Windsor Campus, formerly the Windsor Baptist Church, at 6701 Hwy. 61-67 in Imperial.
The annual event will run from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15; 5-9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, and 5-7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17.
Admission is free.
“The nativity scene will be exactly the same, with the nativity on the hillside,” Pastor Bryan Davidson said. “There will be animals present with camels, sheep and donkeys.”
Animals are kept below at ground level.
The congregation, which became Canaan Baptist Church-Windsor Campus in June 2023, has put on the live nativity scene, with church members donning period garb, for more than four decades.
Dozens of congregation members volunteer to help portray Jesus, Mary and Joseph, shepherds and angels, as well as to help behind the scenes.
“There are about 100 volunteers that are a part of it,” Davidson said. “There are the character portrayals, but also people helping with parking and serving hot chocolate and cookies.”
He said regular attendees notice a new wrinkle to it this year.
“Something new this year is we will have fire pits for s’mores,” he said. “We’ll give out the ingredients for families to make s’mores.”
Christmas music will be included.
“We will have groups singing Christmas carols,” Davidson said.
Members of Canaan Baptist Church’s congregation in Oakville will join forces with Imperial congregation to assist with the live nativity, he said.
“We were adopted by Canaan Baptist of Oakville. It’s all the same congregation, just different branches,” Davidson said.
“We also have people from the Webster Groves campus participating.”
He said he is aware that the nativity scene on the bluff has long drawn people from a wide region, with some groups arriving in buses to view the presentation.
“The reason we’re doing this is to reach the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ to share his beliefs and the salvation that comes through him,” Davidson said.
For more information, call Canaan Baptist Church-Windsor Branch at 636-464-9008.