WESTHAMPTON — Where has the rest of the nativity scene at Westhampton Congregational United Church of Christ gone?
This time of year, it isn’t uncommon to see a nativity scene assembled in front of churches in celebration of the Christmas season. While there were sheep and shepherds tending to them amassed around the Westhampton church’s crèche, Mary and Joseph as well as the three kings were noticeably missing from the nativity display.
No, the plywood figures haven’t been stolen.
As it turns out, much like the biblical story, the church’s Mary and Joseph figures, the three kings and even a camel have been wandering through Westhampton, according to the Rev. Tadd “Pastor Tadd” Allman-Morton.
“It’s like a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ of faith,” he said with a chuckle, admitting that he wasn’t sure how it all started. “They (the figures) weren’t designed to move, but we’re moving them.”
For the past 10 years, members of the church have helped make the display a mobile one, said Allman-Morton. Originally, all of the figures were placed in front of the church for a month on the first day of Advent, which for Christians is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas. Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas or the closest Sunday to St. Andrew’s Day.
After the crèche is rebuilt each year, and the sheep and shepherds have been positioned in front of the church, the other figures are positioned in different directions away from the church — Mary and Joseph in one direction and the three kings and a camel in the other. Mary and Joseph “arrive” at the crèche for Christmas Eve and are welcomed with a pathway of 1,000 luminaries lining the side of the road in both directions leading up to the church. The three kings don’t arrive at the crèche until the biblical standard of epiphany, said Allman-Morton. Epiphany, according to the Christian bible commemorates the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the gentiles.
Kevin O’Keefe, who is a deacon of the church, has served as the main point person in moving and developing the path for the figures for the majority of the past decade. The church will send an email blast out to see who is interested in playing host at any point to the figures. Once O’Keefe has a list of interested participants, he maps out a path, piles up the figures in his truck and sets them up in yards in Westhampton.
“I try to draw a logical route,” he said. “The church is the center of town and I move (the figures) toward a southerly and northerly route to the center of town.”
Since O’Keefe works as an engineer designing saw blades in East Longmeadow, most of the time he’s setting up the figures at night or when people aren’t home. Over the years, snowstorms have made the trek of the figures and their set-up a more challenging one. At times, the figures, which are held up with rebar, can be a little hard to pull out of the ground with freezing temperatures or multiple feet of snow when they’re due to hit their next destination.
“It’s a fun thing to do … people will come home or wake up to the figures on their lawn,” O’Keefe said.
One of the stops on the journey of the figures also has provided an opportunity for interfaith work, says Allman-Morton. This year will be the third time that Christopher LaFond and his wife, Katie LaFond, have hosted some of the figures on their lawn. The LaFonds are pagan animists and members of Earth Spirit Community, a pagan community based in western Massachusetts. The LaFonds, both harpists, have performed at a few interfaith services at Westhampton Congregational.
“I think almost all cultures have a celebration during the winter solstice and look forward to the returning of the light — whether you mean physically or metaphorically,” said Christopher LaFond, adding that his community celebrates Yule.
“This isn’t for our holiday, but theirs. We have a nice front lawn that’s very visible and we’ve had a good relationship with the UCC folks,” he said.
Westhampton Congregational will host a Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. and will feature a blend of Gospel stories, candle lighting and the LaFonds will provide music.
Mary and Joseph started their journey on Chesterfield Road and traveled to North Road before arriving at the crèche. The three kings made a stop at Intervale Farm on South Road before hopping over to Southampton Road, followed by Stage Road, and will finally arrive at the crèche at Epiphany on Jan. 6.
“Besides being a part of a highly cherished tradition, our traveling figures provide a teaching moment: it’s a reminder that people on the move need shelter and adventure is afoot,” said Allman-Morton. “It can also spark passion that’s especially helpful in politically fraught times noting that Jesus was born in a situation of homelessness.”
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
