A County Armagh church is preparing to launch into the Christmas season in style with a special display of ‘cribs’ gathered from all over the world.
Mullavilly Parish Church, near Tandragee, is heralding the unique event as a Nativity Festival.
And Archdeacon Elizabeth Cairns, who came up with the idea several years ago when putting up her own Christmas decorations, is delighted with the response to date.
Having travelled to many far-flung places all over the globe over the years, and gathered Nativity scenes of her own whilst there, she has set a target of putting in place at least 100 cribs.
These are to be displayed in Mullavilly Parish Church at the end of November, with the remainder to be housed in the adjoining Church Hall.
As Archdeacon Cairns, who is the rector of Mullavilly Parish, told Armagh I, donations received will be put towards church funds as well as a number of local charities.
While the cribs may originate from all over the world, they are in common indicative of the birth of Jesus Christ and the true meaning of the season.
Archdeacon Cairns, along with parishioners at Mullavilly, have been busy putting together their collection as the world starts its own countdown to Christmas.
Cribs from all continents will feature at Mullavilly, among them some from Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, in South America, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi in Africa, New Zealand and Samoa in the South Pacific and, of course, from the Holy Land itself.
There will also be cribs from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, all of which will go on display.
Said Archdeacon Cairns: “A couple of years ago I thought to myself, as I was putting out my own Christmas decorations in the Rectory, and I was setting out my own Nativity Scenes which I have gathered over the years on my travels to different parts of the world, I wonder could we hold a festival that depicted the Nativity Story and how many could we possibly get or display if we ran a ‘Nativity Festival’?
“So, very tentatively, I came up with the idea of ‘A Festival of 100 Nativities’. I guess I just plucked the number 100 out of the air without giving it much thought but there is nothing quite like a challenge.”
The inspiration came quite simply from a recognition of the shared wish and expectation by all to adorn their homes – inside and out – with all manner of decoration.
And yet, according to Archdeacon Cairns, the realisation beyond that recognition is that very few have a Nativity Scene as part of their displays and festive trappings.
“This is, of course, the primary reason for Christmas, when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus, the One who came to be the Lord and Saviour of all, and to bring light, hope and forgiveness into a dark world,” she added. “To hear or read the account of the Angels, Shepherds, Wisemen, Mary and Joseph.
“And so behind it all is the desire to help bring to the fore the real meaning of Christmas and encourage people to even make or purchase a very small ‘Nativity’ or decoration for their own home.”
The goal is to gather together 100 cribs before arranging them for display.
The response, to date, has been brilliant.
But Archdeacon Cairns added: “We will not know for sure just how many we will have; 100 is our target and I would be really excited if we reach that and overwhelmed if we get more.
“Getting Nativity scenes from all over the world underlines the universal message of hope that Christmas delivers.”
Some of the ‘scenes’ will take the form of modern looking Nativities, while some are being specially crafted – handmade, knitted or crocheted or painted by parishioners and friends.
“Some may well look a little unusual, but with closer inspection the story is there. Some will be large and some will be as small as two–inch square,” said the Archdeacon.
“One that stands out for me comes from a friend in northern Sweden. My friend makes jewellery items from moose antlers and he has carved the Nativity into a whole antler and sent it to me.”
Archdeacon Cairns has been delighted by how the idea has been received and how the congregation at Mullavilly has so readily taken up the challenge.
“They are an absolute great bunch of people of all ages and are very supportive when it comes to doing things like this,” she enthused.
“It’s always great to see a church and parish come together to make something happen and all I can say is the folk around here are fantastic, each one doing their little bit and working together.
“They will be all working together as part of our welcome, catering, car park, admin teams and more – I simply couldn’t do without any one of them.”
Local schools have also got involved, while a number of businesses have offered to help cover some of the initial overheads, all adding to the community support and feel of the Festival, much to the delight of the Archdeacon and the entire congregation.
The Festival of 100 Nativities will run for four days, from Thursday, November 26 until Sunday, November 29. Opening hours are 10am to 8pm on the Thursday and Friday, with 10am until 6pm on Saturday and 2pm until 6pm on the Sunday.
All are welcome to come along.
