SITE TOOLS
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Come All Ye Faithful
By Lisa R. Foeman
'Tis the
season for the Christmas pageant!
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The annual reenactment of the Nativity story is
significant both from a religious and cultural perspective. According to Rev. Brad Ronnell
Braxton, Ph.D., senior pastor of Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore, Maryland,
the Nativity story “is a pivotal moment in God’s dealing with his people. It
like a few other stories [the Exodus, Advent, Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection]
are foundational.” For the congregation of Douglas Memorial, an inner city,
ecumenical church, the re-telling of the birth of Jesus shows “that God is interested
in the places we live [and] doesn’t mind visiting the ghettos and the
backwaters,” continued Braxton. Expounding upon the foundational theme of Braxton, Rev.
Jarvis E. Bailey, pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Virginia’s rural Spotsylvania
County, offered, “Jesus is the center of our faith. So, if everything that happened
with Jesus is true, and we don’t celebrate it, and keep it alive, then we really have
no faith.” Critical to our faith is the understanding that “Jesus brings hope,
inspiration, courage, patience, will power, and determination,” articulated Rev.
Chester Morris, minister of New Allen Memorial A.M.E. Church on the Eastern Shore of
Virginia.
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That the Nativity story is annually retold in the oral
medium is indicative of our cultural tradition of passing down stories from generation to
generation. Bailey explained, “those [stories] are the kinds of things that keep us
going, that strengthen us, that remind us of who we are, and that give us meaning. [The
Nativity story] is one of the life-giving stories of the Christian faith.”
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True to the African-American cultural tradition of improvisation, the composition of the
Christmas pageant in the Black church usually changes from year to year. For example, in
an “effort to use the gifts that people have,” the Christmas pageant at
Bailey’s church this year is composed of three elements: an original play called
“Unconditional Love” written by one of the parishioners, a praise dance
presentation, and a cantata of traditional Christmas songs. In the past, the Christmas
pageant at Morris’ church has been an exposition of Christmas gospels, such as
“Silent Night with soul” or a dramatic presentation incorporating ordinary
situations to relay the basic tenets of the Nativity story. Stresses Morris, while
Afrocentric elements are used, the “principles are neither white nor black.”
Our culture is also reflected through the use of festive costuming and expressions. Being
careful “that the accoutrements [of the Christmas story] don’t trump the
text”, “a splash of kente here and there, and a splash of ethnicity from time to
time” are apparent in the clothing worn by the Nativity story’s participants at
Douglas Memorial, said Braxton. Although the costumes at Zion Hill don’t display
ethnic attributes, Bailey noted that “what we do is an expression of who we
are.” That is, “anytime we tell the Christmas story, a part of us gets
transmitted into that. We are Black all the time.”
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In many churches, the Christmas pageant has been extended
over the course of two Sundays to incorporate the cultural celebration of Kwanzaa. At Zion
Hill, Kwanzaa is celebrated usually in a separate service in which guest ministers
participate. While not celebrated separately at Douglas Memorial, “it is
acknowledged,” says Braxton who believes that Kwanzaa and Christmas “can and
should go together hand in hand.”
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As the Yuletide season kicks into high gear,
sit back and enjoy the various Christmas pageants at local churches and community centers.
Beamed Braxton, they “serve a wonderful function. They make a fascinating story all
the more interesting by making it three dimensional.” M
December 1999
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