Hillcrest Church to hold drive-thru nativity production in December

With pandemic restrictions limiting gathering sizes, Hillcrest Apostolic Church plans to hold a drive-thru nativity using actors and technology to tell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Hope Has Come! will be a live nativity from Thursday, Dec. 10 to Saturday, Dec. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Hillcrest parking lot. While the church is not asking for donations, anyone who wishes to offer a financial gift is encouraged to give to the food bank or Joe’s Place Youth Centre.

This is the first year that Hillcrest Church has done something like this, explained co-ordinator Daycee Richardson. Normally, the organization would hold different Christmas events for groups such as women and children, but that can’t happen this year due to the pandemic.

“We tried to come up with something creative that would be safe and fun and hopefully not jeopardized by shifting health guidelines and that would be open to the whole community,” she said.         

Hillcrest Church normally works with Joe’s Place Youth Centre on projects, so after the youth-focused organization held a successful drive-by super hero event in May with volunteers in costumes, church organizers realized they might be able to pull off something similar.

Nativity organizers are encouraging families to visit the church’s website at www.hillcrestmj.com before the event to download an audio file onto their smartphones or tablets. Upon arriving on site, families should enter through the Heritage Inn parking lot, which is being used as a staging area. They will then proceed into the church parking lot and drive around the building while taking in the performance.

The nativity will feature live actors, animated displays and lights to help tell The Greatest Story Ever Told. With a laugh, Richardson said she hopes live animals will be part of the production, an aspect that organizers are still working out. She also hoped that there would be good weather those three nights.

“We’re very excited,” she continued, before explaining that the church wanted to include immigrants new to the community. So, the audio file that the church put together can be heard in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.  

Organizers believe it should take families about 15 to 20 minutes to experience the entire drive-thru nativity.

“There will be some very creative ways to tell the story (with) some of the costuming and stuff that I think will be really fun,” said Richardson.

“We also felt like it would give some of our volunteers an outlet in a season when lots of kids are in drama productions in the fall in school (and) in school Christmas programs. And those just aren’t options this year. So for some of our families, they are very excited to get to come and be in costume … and participate that way,” or work in pre-production on costumes or set design.

Added Richardson, “We just want to make it a fun experience for all ages (and make it) something that’s easy to participate in. It’s free and we hope it will be a real hit with the community.”