Help wanted: Baby Jesus, camels sought for seasonal work
WILMINGTON, Del. — Most everyone wants to be shepherd or an angel. Baby Jesus can be harder to find. And good luck trying to book a camel.
When it comes to staging a "living Nativity," church volunteers have found it can take what sometimes seems like a miracle to cast the roles of human and animal participants in a reenactment of Christ’s birth.
Most elusive? It doesn't take a wise man to know it's the Magi's ride.
“Camels, they’re hard to come by,” said the Rev. Amy Yarnall of Wesley United Methodist Church in Dover, which held its living Nativity on Dec. 3, as always, without a live camel. “We were joking we could put a hump on the back of the calf.”
This month, several Delaware churches host living nativities which tell the story of Christmas — with no Santa in sight.
“One thing I’ve heard people in and out of the church talk about is that Christmas would not be the same if they couldn’t stand in front of the living Nativity and reflect on what Christmas is all about,” said the Rev. Richard Vance of Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Newark.
Conley's United Methodist Church near Lewes is expecting close to 1,200 people at its two-day outdoor living Nativity beginning Friday. Guided tours at its 21-acre site feature scenes with more than 80 costumed volunteers.
Grace Lutheran Church in Hockessin, which first began hosting a live Nativity in 2000, is back this year after taking a break for several years. It re-creates the Bethlehem stable in a tent while visitors sit on bales of hay among live animals.
The holiday productions take months of laborious preparation say organizers. “Planning for next year will begin Jan. 1,” said Cheryl Wood, a Conley's United Methodist Church volunteer.
“It’s very time-consuming during the holidays, but it definitely keeps your perspective for the reason for the season,” said Karen Baumbach of Grace Lutheran Church. “It’s really become quite a tradition with families in the Hockessin area to come to the live Nativity.”
Wesley in Dover has maintained its seasonal tradition for at least 25 years. For this year’s tableau outside the South State Street church, church members played the roles of Mary, Joseph and the Wise Men. But Baby Jesus was a doll and the Magi’s camel was plywood.
Sometimes, living Nativity directors have to take creative license. Yarnall said an infant from the church’s congregation occasionally plays Baby Jesus, but not if it’s too cold outside. Grace Lutheran also has used both dolls and babies to represent the Christ child. Conley's United Methodist Church has used a doll for the past 15 years.
“We don’t have a real baby. We have a doll that is battery-operated. It cries and moves,” Wood said. “Little kids are always asking questions like, ‘Is that a real Baby Jesus in the manger? Did those angels really come out of the sky?' "
Wesley pastor Yarnall said while they didn’t have a live camel, the church did have other animals milling in its stable, though maybe not all the ones mentioned in gospels and holiday songs.
“We had two calves, one pony and two goats, and they were very popular,” Yarnall said of the animals on loan from the Future Farmers of America program at Caesar Rodney High School.
How about a donkey, a lamb or the harder-to-find ox? No go, said Jim Thistlewood who has been organizing the Dover living Nativity for the past 15 years with his wife, Sandi.
“We have had a miniature donkey. But, beside a donkey, nothing truly exotic,” he said. “There’s not a lot of ox around.”
Thistlewood said the animals are important to live Nativity visitors. “It helps draw the folks. And there are a lot of the kids that have never seen a calf or a horse or a goat. They’ll come up and ask if they’re real.”
While living nativities are free to the public, booking the animals can be costly. One petting zoo in Leesburg, Va., offers a “Nativity Package” that includes renting a donkey, two sheep and two goats for two hours for $599.
Mileage is extra.
Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Newark features a live Nativity with sheep and a donkey they rent from both Whimsical Farms in Newark and Hockessin’s Woodside Farm Creamery. Organizer Carolyn Hafer said the animals are popular with the church visitors as well as the Nativity’s all-youth cast.
“Everyone wants to be a shepherd because they like to hold onto the sheep. And all the boys get to hold the crooks,” she said. “People really enjoy the animals.”
No camel, though. "If anyone knows where to get a camel, I'd want to know," Hafer joked.
At Conley's United Methodist Church, organizer Wood said animals for its living Nativity are usually owned by members of the semi-rural Sussex County congregation or friends of the church. They’ve had sheep some years, but now they mostly rent goats and a donkey for the two-day event.
“Sheep, you have to keep inside overnight. Most of our sheep now are domesticated. They aren’t like ones in the hills of Bethlehem and can stay outside all the time,” Wood said. “We have to provide overnight shelter. But goats are really easy. You can pick them up and put them in the back of your car. Well, someone puts them in an SUV. We have four to six goats and a donkey.”
Said Wood: “It’s really hard to get the bigger animals. We’ve never had a camel. They are hard to come by. Our donkey has been the same donkey for the entire 15 years we’ve done it. His name is Brighty. He is very popular. Other churches use him.”
Baumbach, who directed the Live Nativity at Hockessin’s Grace Lutheran Church for more than 10 years and has since passed the torch to volunteers Kim Taylor and Karen O'Connor, said church members have considered replacing the animals, which must be booked months in advance from petting zoo or area farms.
“It’s always a struggle to get the animals,” she said. The animals they use, from a farm in Aston, Pa., have included rabbits, chickens, goats, a miniature horse and a llama.
“We’ve talked about [putting] kids in costumes as animals, if the animals aren’t available, but it’s just not the same feel,” Baumbach said. “The animals give a sense of what happened that night in Bethlehem.”
While an animal wrangler is on site, like every live production, things can sometimes go awry. “When you’re dealing with animals, you never know what you’re going to get,” said Baumbach.
One year, she planned on having a donkey and three goats for the Nativity, but one of the goats died the night before the event.
But Baumbach said the production that caused the most excitement, as well as a lasting memory, was “the night when the llama’s tail caught fire.”
Because camels are so hard to find, Grace Lutheran Church usually books a llama as a camel stand-in. One year, Baumbach said the llama apparently swung its tail a little too close to a kerosene heater. “The llama’s tail was quite long,” she said.
The appendage began to smoke, but the fire was quickly extinguished. The llama, which stayed calm, wasn’t hurt, Baumbach said. "Everyone still talks about it."
Thistlewood of Wesley said llamas probably won’t ever be a part of Dover live Nativity: “No llamas. They’re nasty.”
And weather can wreak just as much havoc as actors or animals not showing up for parts. The show does go on in the rain, but not always in the snow. Baumbach said Grace Lutheran Church had to cancel its live Nativity for the past two years because of inclement weather.
Wood said her biggest anxiety at Conley's most years is a blizzard that could ruin a year of planning. But despite the headaches involved with the production, she can’t imagine a Christmas season without the living Nativity.
“It’s a lot of work, but the people who are really involved are really committed. It’s a way to bring church to people who might not attend church. We find it’s just a way to reach out to the community to bring the message of God’s love.”
Follow Patricia Talorico on Twitter: @pattytalorico