Yesterday was the annual Christmas Pageant at our church. We are new to the church, so we don’t know all of the traditions, though we have heard a lot of stories in the past couple of years and have met a lot of people who are passionate about their memories. Like any congregation there are beloved songs and memories of pageants past. I don’t know how old the tradition of having the pageant as part of the Sunday morning worship service has been in place. I do know that last year the pageant was held after worship so that the children did not appear on the livestream. I also know that the previous year there had been no pageant due to Covid restrictions. And, I know that obtaining permission from parents for the children to appear on the livestream was not a problem.

In some ways it was a traditional pageant. We had a teen playing the part of the prophet announcing the coming of the messiah. We had other middle school and high school youth reading from the birth narrative as reported in the gospels of Luke and Matthew. We had children dressed up as shepherds and angels and magi. We had a few children dressed as sheep and one dressed as a star. We had songs and one of the youngest members of the congregation playing the role of the infant Jesus with his mother and father playing the roles of Mary and Joseph.

As Faith Formation leaders in the congregation, we kept track of a few statistics: 28 children and youth from 17 families participated. Add in the infant Jesus and the number is 29 from 18 families. Nine adult volunteers worked behind the scenes to provide music, help with costuming, shepherd children, and assist in a variety of ways. As has been typical of the congregations we have served, we found ways to include children who had not been able to attend the music rehearsals or the special Saturday “run through.” Some of the children didn’t know the words to the songs. Some of them didn’t have the stage directions in their minds and weren’t sure which way to face. A couple of younger participants wandered back and forth between parents and grandparents in the congregation and their place in the pageant.

And, in the typical manner of Christmas pageants, those who came to worship enjoyed the pageant immensely.

Our Faith Formation department at the church had a very busy morning. In addition to the pageant, we had arranged for a sale of stained glass art items made by a member of the congregation to support the Interfaith Coalition that provides housing assistance for those experiencing homelessness. We also had a local independent book store set up a sale with a portion of the proceeds supporting new acquisitions for our church library. And our usual “Going Deeper” adult class met after worship and people were signing up for other small groups that the Faith Formation department offers. New covenant groups will be starting in January, so we helped folks get more information and register for the groups.

It was a busy morning for us and we were tired by the time we made it home in the mid-afternoon. But we won’t remember the tiredness. There were other memories that will linger.

I’ll remember the toddler, dressed as a lamb who kept running back and forth between the manger scene and his grandmother and parents in the congregation. He was only loosely corralled and herded by the adults of the congregation - perhaps more sheep like than those who sat with the other children and sang songs. I’ll remember the people, some with tears in their eyes, who could remember when the mother of the infant was herself an infant playing the role of Jesus in a Christmas pageant. I knew that story was especially meaningful to the grandmother of the infant, who also participated in the pageant, leading songs with the children. I’ll remember the young participant who wept when the children sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” I don’t know what prompted the tears, but the crying ended when the song ended.

And, as a sentimental old fool, I will remember our grandson reading about the visit of the angel to the shepherds, a part of the story that his father read when he was a youth and a part of the story that I have recited dozens and dozens of times over the years. I’ll remember looking at our two granddaughters dressed as angels. They were quite peaceful and angelic, a quality that is only one of the many they are able to display. They also can show fierceness and intense competitiveness in certain situations. They aren’t always as quiet as they were yesterday.

After the pageant, someone asked me how many pageants I had participated in over the years. I don’t have an exact count. I do know that I can remember several from my childhood. I still have a hand-made stuffed red and white cow that was part of a pageant when I think I was a preschooler. We sang the friendly beasts, a song that showed up in this year’s pageant. I remember several years of being the third magi and singing “We Three Kings” as we processed - a song that was NOT included in this year’s pageant. I don’t miss that song, either. And I have all four verses memorized. I kept hoping I would grow tall enough to move up to the second or even the first verse, but I was always the shortest - and therefore the third king. Our pageant yesterday featured four magi.

For those of us who love the church and who love the traditions of this season, the pageant was a success. And we know that at least a part of the story that is so deeply meaningful to us has been shared with children in ways that create memories. They may come to a point in their lives when they look back at what we have done as silly and amateurish. That’s OK. Their memories will be as valid as mine. But they also might remember fondly the time when the whole congregation focused its attention on the children and was grateful to have done so.