ARNOLD, Mo. – First Baptist Church of Arnold shared the love and hope of Jesus through the “Lights of Christmas,” now in its fifth year. The presentation combines a live nativity, Scripture, lights and hot cocoa.
“This started during COVID,” Chris Mason, worship leader, said. “We usually did a large indoor production for Christmas with choir, orchestra and drama, but that couldn’t happen. So, the Lord led us to develop this light show synchronized to music, with the story of Jesus. We are blessed to have a gentleman in the congregation that does light presentations for Six Flags.”
Mason described the first drive-through during COVID. “Everyone stayed in their cars,” he said, “as our volunteers waved them into the parking lot with signs of ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Jesus loves you.’ When they were parked, they tuned in their radio to hear Pastor Kenny (Qualls) share the story of Jesus and the plan of salvation.”
As the event grew each year, FBC Arnold added other lights and seasonal displays to the presentation. “Now, the cars drive through the seasonal displays before they see the live nativity which is narrated with signs of Scripture, the visitors see lighted snowmen and other characters that they might see in a park,” Mason said. “We made a commitment to do this for 10 years,” he continued, “because of the money involved.”
The commitment goes beyond money, though. Mason reports that there are more than 100 cast members in the live nativity. “We have them rotate in and out every 30 minutes,” he said. “We have 50 cast members out at a time because of the cold. They have things timed so that they go in individually, so that the change isn’t noticeable. The nativity has all the animals: camels, sheep, cows and chickens.”
And volunteers go beyond just the live nativity cast. Volunteers are needed for guest services, traffic control, seasonal characters and the prayer team. “So much goes into this,” Mason explained, “we need 500 volunteers to carry this off. We start planning and programming this in March. We are blessed to have a man who can program and owns the software. Every single light has its own IP address.”
Mason described the light show: “We use more than 80,000 lights strung on nine trees two stories tall raised on shipping containers,” he said. “Visitors tune their radio in to hear the 15-minute program synchronized to music. We use fun seasonal songs, then Pastor Kenny shares before we finish with a couple sacred songs.
“While waiting for the light show to start, our volunteers in seasonal costumes move down the rows of parked cars serving hot cocoa and cookies. We also see photos being taken.
“This is a way we can love on the community,” Mason said. “The program is free, and we hand out cards that give all the information about our church and outlines the upcoming Christmas services.”
“It is also good for our congregation,” he said, “because we can serve together. Families are in costumes serving together. The community and the surrounding area respond. Last year during the 18 time slots (three per night, Friday-Sunday for two weekends) 1,200 cars came into our parking lot and more than 6,000 people heard the Gospel.”
This article originally appeared in The Pathway.
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