“Pageant Shepherds” K. Rummer, 2022
The Amazing No Rehearse Open Cast All Church Christmas Pageant
An Idea For Your Congregation?
by Ken Rummer
“Nobody wants to direct the Christmas pageant this year. And Saturday rehearsal times are already claimed by kids’ sports and family activities. What are we going to do?”
Back in my pastoring days, the Christian Ed Committee and I found ourselves struggling to keep a well-loved Christmas tradition alive.
With inspiration born of necessity, we came up with the Amazing No Rehearse Open Cast All Church Christmas Pageant.
I served as the narrator, reading from Matthew 2 and Luke 2. Before each group of verses, I would announce the roles we would be needing and invite anyone in the congregation to take a part.
“Mary and Joseph. If you’d like to be Mary or Joseph, please report to the good folks working the boxes of costume parts. You both want to play Mary? No problem. Just walk up the aisle together with Joseph as I read the story.”
“Now, shepherds and angels before I read this next part. Come on up and get a tunic or some glitter wings and take your place behind the manger.”
“You always wanted to be an angel? This is your chance.”
“Next, we’re going to need stars. A great role for little ones. Anyone want to play a Christmas star? We have yellow cardboard cutouts with holes in the middle for faces to peek through. Come up and let your light shine.”
“And now, we’re in need of magi, formerly known as wisemen. Come find a robe and a gift. Three is the traditional number of visitors from the East, but Matthew doesn’t actually say how many there were. Maybe this year we’ll have five. It will be OK.”
“Wisewomen? Why not? As internet memes remind us, wise women would have brought more practical gifts, like diapers. Just walk up the aisle as I read your part of the story.”
By the end of the readings, the impromptu all-ages cast had found places around the Holy Family, and they joined the rest of the congregation for the finale, a verse of “Away in the Manger.” Smiles and applause followed — even a few woots.
I remember it as the Amazing No Rehearse Open Cast All Church Christmas Pageant.
You’re welcome to borrow it.
Too few children, or none at all? No problem. Grownups can cover the roles. Tough to find rehearsal time in the December calendar? No rehearsals are needed. Just fill the parts and give stage directions as you go.
With this kind of pageant, folk get to pick the part they each want to play in the Christmas story. Old and young and in-between can all participate. And creative additions can be accommodated. If a young man thinks the baby Jesus would honored by the presence of a Christmas dinosaur, you can have him stand, Jurassic and fierce, right next to the cow and the donkey.
And the best part of the ANROCACCP? The feelings at the end are just like the ones I remember from the old-school Christmas pageants of my childhood: relief and holy wonder.
***
So what role would you like to play in the Christmas story? Drop it in the comments and watch our online cast grow.
And if you decide to try your own version of the Amazing No Rehearse Open Cast All Church Christmas Pageant, send a follow-up comment. I’d love to hear your story.
Ken Rummer, Teaching Elder PCUSA, Honorably Retired
Ken Rummer writes about life and faith from the middle of Iowa by the High Trestle Trail. Previous posts are available at http://presbyterianmission.org/today/author/krummer