Sharing the real story of Christmas

Members and friends of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, at Aberfoyle Park in suburban Adelaide, have been presenting Christmas productions since 1990. For many of those years, we have also shared Easter dramas. These have been a way of reaching out into the community and welcoming our neighbours to join our faith family for these significant times of the Christian year.

We do letterbox drops around the area of our church to invite local people to join us – also a good way for those involved to get some exercise in before Christmas!

For many people, these productions have become events to invite friends, family and workmates to so that they can hear and see the real story of Christmas in a new and fresh way. This has often involved invitations to coffee, a meal or supper afterwards, and many amazing conversations have been had as questions are asked and answered. In our congregation, it is common for a production to be a step in the journey to being part of our church family.

I remember the ‘aha’ moment one year during a rehearsal as we gathered around the manger. A new ‘unchurched’ cast member said: ‘Wait a minute, what I just said, is this baby Jesus the same as the one who was crucified at Easter? That’s why he did this?’ You can imagine the conversation as the rehearsal was put on pause for a while.

Livestreaming of the productions online has also given us an opportunity to reach out across Australia – and the world – with the real message of Christmas. Families and friends who would not otherwise hear it gather around a TV during the livestream and during the weeks afterwards, while it is on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@oursaviourap).

This year’s production is called ‘Colours of Christmas’. It explores how Jesus can bring light, love, life, peace and his presence into the dark and grey places of our lives.

We always provide tea, coffee and homemade biscuits after the productions to encourage people to linger and talk. This year, in between our two performances at 4pm and 7pm on Sunday 21 December – the latter of which will be livestreamed – we will be providing a free meal. There will also be a 4.30pm performance on Christmas Eve.

We hope and pray that these productions will be further opportunities for Jesus’ love and light to shine into the darkness of people’s lives.

Verena Johnson is a member and the drama director of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Aberfoyle Park in South Australia, and has written most and produced all of the Christmas and Easter productions shared by the congregation in the past 35 years. She is also an LCANZ Church Worker Support Officer.