Members of the Hancock Congregational Church adapted to COVID-19 by reimagining their annual in-person Journey to Bethlehem. In early December, a series of painted plywood “Christmas cards” appeared downtown, detailing the Nativity story central to the Christian holiday. Organizer Amy Wilson said she’d first seen churches put up giant greeting cards during her childhood in the Midwest, and it seemed like a good way to brighten an otherwise socially isolated holiday season while mimicking the church’s traditional Journey, which sometimes drew crowds of 200 or 300. With an older congregation and all-virtual church services for now, an opportunity to drive or walk downtown and peruse the cards seemed like a good alternative, she said.
“It’s a gift from the church to the community,” interim minister Bob Kyte said, something that seemed particularly important to do this year. “When everything’s gone dark, we can bring light,” he said. The event was founded by former minister Matt Craven 25 years ago, by Wilson’s estimation. Long-time volunteers recently determined the infant who originally played the baby Jesus is now 26 years old, she said, and the event’s gone on during most early Decembers since.
Cathleen Calmer is one of the Hancock artists who volunteered to paint the cards, with some materials coming from community members’ leftover house paint supplies. “It was fun,” she said, to gather in the vestry in dispersed groups to paint. Calmer, who typically paints with oils and watercolors, was joined by artist Kin Schilling and Wilson, she said, and other volunteers had constructed and primed the cards before they’d even started.
The opportunity to introduce the Christmas story to the unfamiliar is a huge reward for Wilson, she said. As she was setting up one of the cards, Wilson overheard a little girl ask her grandfather what the cards were for, and heard him explain, starting by reciting from memory, “Do not be afraid, for see I bring you good news of great joy for all people…”