FAIR PLAY – For over 20 years a living Christmas Nativity has sprung to life in December in this small southwest Missouri town. The First Baptist Church here opens up a Christmas Village to share the story of Jesus’ birth to the area’s residents.
Pastor David Stunkel said this effort is an outreach to their community. He remarked that families seem to enjoy bringing their children and friends to see the various scenes portrayed by actors, narration and music.
The guided tour begins when people approach the church and are greeted by costumed Victorian-era carolers who sing Christmas songs. The guests are invited into the welcome center where they sample cookies and hot chocolate and have opportunities for group photos. Groups of 10–15 are assembled and matched up with a tour guide to see the Christmas story scenes on the grounds of the church.
Their first stop is Santa’s workshop, where they meet Saint Nicholas, a Christian saint often called Santa Claus in modern times. From there they stop in at “Grandpa’s Cabin,” and an elderly gentleman is reading the Christmas story to his family and interacting with the guests.
From there the guide takes them to Bethlehem of ancient days. They see Mary and Joseph at the stable. Mary is on a donkey named Elmer and Joseph is by her side. The innkeeper is there explaining to them there is no room at the inn but they can stay at the stable. It is crowded in Bethlehem with many people there trying to register for the Roman census. A grumpy Roman soldier barks orders at the crowds.
The next scene shows the newborn Baby Jesus, with Mary and Joseph, being visited by an angel and some shepherds who have come to worship the Messiah.
Then the tour goes to a scene of some cowboys on horses talking together while on a cattle drive on the road to Springfield. They are talking about the Christmas story and the significance of the birth of Jesus.
The message that everyone sins and needs a Savior is expressed, and Jesus Christ is held up as the Messiah sent to the world to pay for the sins of all people who will receive Him. And it all began in a little village called Bethlehem.
Pastor Stunkel said Fair Play is a cattle-raising community, so horses, donkeys, cowboys, and stables are a common experience for the southwest Missouri residents. It is a hardworking, rural community. Farmers, as well as residents who drive into nearby towns to work, appreciate the efforts to share the gospel through this drama. Stunkel is a bivocational pastor, also working as a welder at the Tracker Boat manufacturing plant.
He acknowledged that many volunteers from the church and community work together to put on the annual presentation in early December each year. David Taylor, a radio personality from Springfield station KWFC, narrates the storyline of the drama with accompanying music and special-effects lighting helping to tell the story.
He said last year there were about 50 attendees who went through the Nativity event. “It really unifies our small community,” the pastor said. “There are lots of volunteers from the church and the town,” he added.
“People get together and this has become one of their holiday traditions. We just try to connect the family traditions to the reality of the Nativity story,” Stunkel said.
The Christmas Village Nativity presentation was first held in 2003 and has been presented most of those years since. This year it was on December 6 and 7.