During a holiday season when so much has changed, one local church has found a way to stage an annual tradition: The children’s Christmas pageant.
“Normally we have it indoors on Christmas Eve in the afternoon, but because of COVID we’re not able to gather in that way," said Nick Morris-Kliment, pastor of the Christ Episcopal Church in Needham.
The production was moved outdoors for the church’s first-ever socially distanced Christmas pageant. Last Saturday, children dressed as angels, shepherds and the three kings donned masks to greet Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the church’s garden.
Morris-Kliment captured it all on his iPhone camera and will hand over the footage to a parishioner who will edit together what the church is calling "The Pageant Movie 2020." Congregants will be able to tune in on Christmas Eve to watch it.
In pre-pandemic times, there was a choir and the pews would be packed for the Christmas pageant. This year, all the players were spaced across the side lawn while their parents watched from a distance.
“I think that connects the story as it really was,” said Morris-Kliment. “There was no audience, there was no crowd reaction. There was just a family in desperate need of a place to have their baby. That’s what this is ultimately about. God coming in terribly vulnerable form.”
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