Bethlehem is Coming Back!

Bethlehem is Coming Back!
by
November 01, 2022

This year, one of our MAJOR church ministries returns after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic. For 39 years now, Woodmont has been putting on Walk Thru Bethlehem for the Nashville community, and many who travel from out of town. What first started as a live nativity scene up at South Hall in 1983 put on by our youth (to honor Anne Keith) has grown and evolved into a major community event where thousands walk through the doors of our church to experience what it was like when Christ was born. I want to thank the WTB planning Committee and the many members who are leading this ministry. It is no secret that it takes a LOT of work and hundreds of volunteers to pull off this major event. We need your help! We can’t do it without you this year.

Every year, it is a labor of love and an outreach to our community. But “Why” do we do this? Why do we work so hard to bring the Christmas story to life? Here are a few thoughts:

• Christmas is all about the birth of Christ, the light shining in the darkness and the darkness not overcoming it. In the midst of the secular culture, many will forget why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, and this is a great reminder.

• WTB is a major outreach of our church and a gift that we give to the Nashville community every year. Put simply, it is an act of love, generosity, and joy that impacts thousands of people.

• WTB brings our church community together. Our church has grown. We have three different worship services every Sunday, and we don’t always get to see each other. WTB is a community-wide event where we can come together, work together, and get to know each other better. This strengthens our faith community.

• Woodmont has a reputation throughout Nashville for hosting this event. We should take great pride in this fact and keep working year after year to make it even better.

• When it’s over, we are always glad that we kept the tradition alive. The gratitude expressed by those who come reminds us that this event is a significant part of their Christmas tradition!

These are just a few of the many reasons that we continue to offer Walk Thru Bethlehem. During the month of November, please sign up for a role. There are both costumed roles and non-costumed roles. Go to the website to find open slots woodmontchristian.org/walk-thru-bethlehem beginning next week.

Years ago, Phillip Brooks had a powerful experience in the Holy Land on Christmas Eve while worshipping at the Church of the Nativity. He wrote these words that would become the famous lyrics to one of our favorite Christmas hymns:

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in the dark street shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

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