Over three nights in December, the Thousand Oaks California Stake Center was transformed into a “Night in Bethlehem.”
Overall, 4,600 people attended the event Dec. 8-10, which included a replica town of ancient Bethlehem and a live Nativity show with sets, lighting and music on the stake center grounds. Afterward, guests were invited to a reception in the cultural hall with refreshments and more information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Event co-chair Jana Ewing said as she was working as an usher one night, many people told her how much they enjoyed the 20-minute live Nativity show — then one woman hugged her and started to cry.
“I asked her ‘How did you hear about us?’ She told me, ‘A student of mine invited me.’ She went on to say, ‘I just didn’t know how much I needed this,’” Ewing said. “There is just so much joy in seeing people recognize the need for the Savior in their lives. Helping our community remember the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, is the best way for me to spend the holiday season.”
Stake President Lee Mackay said the idea was born when the community was coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 — the stake wanted to find a way to bring connection and healing to the community that had been separated for so long, and a Night in Bethlehem was born.
The stake put on the event again in 2022 and now in 2023, with friends of other faiths and members of the neighboring Newbury Park California Stake helping as well.
“It was our joy and pleasure to share the message of Jesus Christ and His birth with the members of our community we love so much,” said President Mackay.
Members of the community wrote thank you notes, saying how much they enjoyed the program and will make it a yearly tradition.
Karen Lyons attended and brought a friend. “It was beyond amazing,” she said. “It was easy to talk about Christ and His Church after the experience.”
President Mackay said the quality of the sets, the talent of the performers, the quality of the production and the decorations in the reception hall reflected “the dedication of our members and their outward expressions of faith in Jesus Christ as they share their talents with their friends and neighbors.”
See photos from the event below.
Other Nativity displays
The Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center has an international Creche Display this month with Nativity sets from all over the world from a variety of materials and designs.
Christmas trees from stakes in the area are on display, and groups, bands and choirs have also performed musical numbers for the 2023 Festival of Lights.
The annual Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, held in the Bellevue Washington South Stake Center, hosted more than 12,000 visitors from Dec. 3-10 of this year, according to a Facebook post about the event.
The festival was featured in the Church News in 2022.
One of the largest “come and see” events for the Church of Jesus Christ in Michigan is held every year at the Midland Michigan Stake Center.
This year’s Midland Nativity Exhibit was held Dec. 1-3 and featured around 1,000 nativities of all types from all over the world. Since then, organizers have continued to feature different Nativities on the Facebook page.
The 12th annual interfaith “Nativities and Noels” at the Topeka Kansas Stake Center, held this year Dec. 1-3, featured more than 850 Nativities and Christmas music from many groups and individuals.
A commenter on Facebook said how impressed she was after visiting the display and that it will become a holiday tradition.
The community event was featured in the Church News in 2021.
