Immanuel Lutheran Church is offering a chance to get an experience of a biblical event this December.
Hundreds of area visitors are expected to visit the church for its “The Pilgrimage to Bethlehem: A Live Nativity” event Saturday, Nov. 9 and Sunday, Nov. 10. The church has held the event for more than a dozen years.
The event is open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on both days. Visitors can arrive whenever they wish to participate during that time slot.
Those who attend will be taken through different nativity settings, such as Nazareth and the marketplace where Mary and Joseph look for an inn to spend the night.
Actors dressed in first-century period costumes as characters from the Bible will make appearances throughout the live nativity tour.
“We have about 140 actors and actresses that are in costume,” organizer Phyllis Johnson said. “These are people from 15 to 20 different area churches that all come together.”
As visitors come into the church, they will hear a choir that sings Christmas carols.
The audience can join in because they are common carols. Guides take groups on a narrated tour through the story.
The tour includes different stops in outdoor and indoor settings. Johnson said the visitors will receive a number when they arrive, which determines when their tour will begin.
“It’s about a 20-minute tour,” Johnson said. “We just keep rotating the groups throughout the whole evening.”
Immanuel Lutheran Church also encourages guests to bring food donation items for Shepherd’s Heart’s food pantry.
Johnson said the organizers of the live nativity wanted to simply help contribute to the community, so it decided to partner with Shepherd’s Heart food pantry.
“As Taylor grows and as things change, there’s more people in this area who need help,” Johnson said. “Being of a Christian background and a Christian institution, it is our duty to help, serve and give.”
Johnson said the food pantry items go to whoever needs them.
“Anybody can get food any time if there is a need,” Johnson said.
Residents wishing to volunteer or donate to the Shepherd’s Heart food pantry can do so online at www. shepherdshearttaylor. org.
For more information on The Pilgrimage to Bethlehem: A Live Nativity, contact the church 512-365-9494.
Children watch a performance during a previous year’s version of the Immanuel Lutheran Church event. Photo by Nicole Lessin
The live nativity scene ends outside with the scene of baby Jesus in the manger. Photo by Jason Hennington
