Churches Struggle to Continue Nativity Display

With a little bit of money and a whole lot of faith, leaders of the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee are struggling to sustain a 34-year-old Christmas tradition.

Each Christmas since 1954, a series of Nativity scenes has adorned scenic Ocean Avenue, between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

Until six years ago, the city sponsored the project. But it was forced to withdraw its financial support after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments could not use public funds to erect religious displays on public property.

Local church leaders, determined to preserve “this message of the true meaning of Christmas,” took on the entire financial burden--about $15,000--by making annual appeals to church members for support.

Somehow, the priests and pastors always reached their goal.

But this year, the committee’s expenses will double. The 14 wooden booths that house the Nativity scenes had to be rebuilt because the old ones were dilapidated from years of wear. The committee also planned to restore the 22-foot, stained-glass window that heads the display because much of it shattered two years ago.

So far, the committee has raised $10,000, not enough to cover $15,000 construction costs, and, with the scheduled unveiling ceremony less than two weeks away, committee leaders concede that they need nothing short of a miracle to raise the additional $20,000 needed to open and operate the display.

‘I Have Faith’

“But we are going to press ahead with the project,” said the Rev. William Doty, co-chairman of the committee. “I have faith that the community will come to our rescue.”

Church leaders are taking special collections during their services, and 500 letters have been sent to residents, seeking their financial support.

Robert Allison, treasurer of the committee, said the group also has stepped up its appeals to business operators for larger donations.

“Every dollar we pull in helps and will be greatly appreciated, but we really need big gifts this year,” he said.

Doty said he has faith that local merchants will respond generously to the appeals because the display is expected to attract thousands of prospective customers to the area from its opening at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 until it is dismantled three weeks later.

The display is made up of 14 scenes, each depicting a story about the birth of Jesus. The scenes, 20 feet long and 10 feet high, are fully lighted and extravagantly decorated with costumed mannequins and painted backgrounds. Christmas carols fill the air from hidden speakers.

“We get notes from people all over the country who visited the displays thanking us for keeping the true Christmas spirit alive,” said former City Councilman Bob Gabriel, who will play host at the opening ceremony. “It’s a spectacular attraction.”

It’s also an expensive attraction.

Besides the $15,000 cost of building new booths and restoring the stained-glass window, the committee must pay for electricity to illuminate the display, must secure a $1-million insurance policy in case of injuries occurring at the site, must reimburse the city for lost parking fees and must pay workers to dismantle the booths at the end of the holiday, Allison said. Total expenditures are projected to reach $30,000.

Booths Collapse

He said the committee also must lease an indoor storage space to protect the new booths and stained-glass window from the weather-rotted fate that befell the old ones, which were stored outdoors.

Karl Jennings, one of the volunteers who worked two weeks to build the new booths, said: “The old ones were so worn out that we wouldn’t have been able to put them together.

“Last year, a couple of (the booths) collapsed, and the wind blew the roof right off another,” he said.

The new booths, made of thick, textured plywood, will look more like mangers than the old ones, said Jennings, and they will be securely anchored into the ground.

The Nativity scenes inside each booth are designed by local churches of various denominations.

“You would think that our theological differences would make this type of project impossible, but actually it’s just the opposite,” said Father Adalberto Blanco of St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church. “We all concentrate on our common beliefs, and we work together extremely well.”

Most of the churches started work on scenes months ago.

Added ‘Pizazz’

Chuck Wiggins, associate minister of First United Methodist Church, said his church plans to add “pizazz” to the “Peace on Earth” scene it has created for at least 13 years. The scene, he said, depicts three shepherds receiving the joyous news of Christ’s birth from an army of angels.

Through a process Wiggins called “starch-and-paste,” a church volunteer will make the mannequins look like marbled statuettes. The result is similar to papier-mache, but cloth is used, he said.

“For the last few years, our mannequins needed to be replaced and it did not appear that we cared about doing the best job in portraying our Christmas message, but this year we are going to really give it some class and style,” Wiggins said.

Such enhancements will also require more money. However, Doty refused to consider the possibility that the committee might fail to get sufficient donations.

“We’ll make it,” he insisted. “We’re going on faith that the money will come in. The community won’t let this project die.”