Parish celebrates "Journey to Bethlehem"

VINELAND - Christ the Good Shepherd Parish heralds the arrival of Christmas with an interactive “Journey to Peace,” a six-scene live outdoor performance leading to a live Nativity scene.

This is the fourth year the parish welcomes the community to its Magnolia Road grounds to celebrate the birth of Christ.

“This is a journey, they will walk scene to scene,” said Anita MacDonald of the parish’s lifelong faith formation committee. The experience begins with the Immaculate Conception of Mary through to the resurrection cross “because that is the reason why He came," she said.

Main Street Vineland to celebrate CommUNITY spirit

The free performances will be held 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Walking groups will be escorted by the Knights of Columbus, who narrate the scenes with scripture. The actors perform with their lines based on Biblical passages.

All visitors are welcome to participate. Prayers and readings that accompany the scenes are included in the program.

The mission of the journey is “to evangelize and teach,” MacDonald said.

The elaborate celebration grew out of conversation five years ago when Philip Quinto of the Knights of Columbus met with MacDonald and Barbara Sykora, also of the parish.

“The Knights of Columbus wanted to do a live Nativity,” MacDonald said.

The brainstorming began.

Vineland students host tribute to city police officers

“We talked about not just doing the Nativity, but the story that leads up to the Nativity,” MacDonald said. “That’s where we went.”

Background artwork for each scene was created by artists Victoria Cachaza and Valerie LaMarro. The script was drafted and volunteers took on roles.

Workers rolled up their sleeves and built a manger. Live animals were brought in.

“We created this all through the parish,” MacDonald said.

“It’s like a flower, it was just this bud, we had this idea,” Sykora said. “Then when we got started, it just started opening and opening and there was layer upon layer.”

The end result is a moving experience for the 40 performers and more than 1,000 visitors.

“Something happens, you rehearse and rehearse but then when you are there, it’s just completely different,” MacDonald said. “You truly feel the spirit of God, it is amazing.”

“We go to church and hear the Gospel proclaimed but when you see it performed — when  Mary speaks the Magnificat —  you become one with her,” she said. "You are drawn in, in a way that you don’t experience at any other time.”

The first year, the journey was limited to one night. It attracted such a large crowd, the parish decided to expand it the second year.

“We spread out the scenes,” MacDonald said. An extra night was added.

To welcome people out of the cold, parishioners worked to transform their church hall into a Bethlehem marketplace.

“It’s all different shops from the time of Jesus and you learn something everywhere you go,” she said. This year there are 30 shopkeepers, focused on pottery, olives, wine, weaving, carpentry. There is a Hebrew school as well as an inn, with no vacancies.

“Each year, it gets a little more involved, we tweak it, we add to it,” MacDonald said

“This started as a project for life-long faith formation team and it still is,” she said. “What we hope that it does — what it has done — is to evangelize. If people have felt away from the church, we want them to come back.

"We want them to feel welcomed here,” MacDonald said.

After months of preparations, organizers are eager to share the experience with others.

“I’ll be out there all night long, I watch people’s faces,” MacDonald said. “I watch people cry and then when they get to the Nativity they’ll just stay there and hang out for a while.”

“It is a truly spiritual journey,” Sykora said.

The Journey to Peace and Night in Bethlehem will be held 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Christ the Good Shepherd Parish, located at 1655 Magnolia Road. Visitors are asked to use the Elmer Road and Nylund Drive entrances.

Desserts will be available Friday. Dinner and desserts will be served Saturday.

Handicapped parking is available. Golf carts are available for those who need assistance. Fire pits and patio heaters are at each scene for visitor comfort.  The event is free but good will offerings will be accepted.

Each night, there will be a closing candlelight ceremony with carols at the Nativity.

For more information, contact (856) 563-0482.

Deborah M. Marko: (856) 563-5256; dmarko@gannettnj.com