Santa’s elves aren’t the only team working hard all year in preparation for Christmas.
So have the members of the Ashburton Anglican church.
The Christmas-minded team have been working on creating their third nativity exhibition to be staged December 3 to 10.
Vicar Indrea Alexander said last year about 90 nativity scenes and artworks were exhibited at St Stephen’s, on Park St.
This year organisers are hoping to have at least 100 scenes on display.
“Visitors to last year’s exhibition told us they had nativities they would like to share, and now’s the time for the community to bring them in,” Alexander said.
Christmas nativity scenes, also known as manger scenes or Christmas cribs, depict the setting where Jesus was born on the first Christmas around 2000 years ago.
It is understood to have been a barn or cave where animals were housed, because the Bible says Mary laid her baby, Jesus, in the animals’ food trough (manger) because there was no room for them in the inn.
The central figure in a nativity scene is baby Jesus, usually with Mary and her husband Joseph, sometimes accompanied by figures depicting visiting shepherds, wise men bearing special gifts, and angels.
Alexander, who owns several nativity scenes including a tiny one made of wool, some representing different ethnicities, a wooden versions that lock together depicting different scenes from different directions, and one of her favourites, a simple plastic one given to her as a child by her godfather.
A Maori themed nativity scene will feature Jesus wrapped in a korowai owned by Alexander.
‘‘Nativity scenes come in all shapes, sizes and materials, including wooden, ceramic, knitted, stained-glass, quilting and pottery, and they often reflect the ethnicity of the artist,’’ she said.
A friend of Alexander’s is creating a gingerbread themed scene for the exhibition.
Last year a “photo booth nativity” was the most popular addition to the exhibition, with school classes, rest-home groups, families and individuals dressing up in the costumes provided and inserting themselves into a lifesize nativity scene in the church.
The photo booth will be one of many activities on offer this year along with a colouring competition.
There was also a new challenge set for people to recreate a famous nativity painting.
‘‘They can use people as models to recreate the scene, or they can do it using modelling clay, Lego, toys, or whatever their imagination suggests. They then provide an A4 print of both their replica scene and the painting they have based it on,’’ Alexander said.
Competition entries are due by November 28, and will be on display at the exhibition.
Nativity scenes can be left at St Stephen’s office, with the name of the owner and a little information about the origins of the scene.
– The free Christmas Nativity exhibition is at St Stephen’s church, 64 Park St, Ashburton from December 3-10 open to the public daily from 11am-2pm and Thursday evening 5-7pm.
