How to Organize a Living Nativity at Your Church

3 to 4 months before

Pick the dates and the format. Book the animals: good handlers, and camels especially, are reserved early. Call your church’s insurance company.

6 to 8 weeks before

If you’ll use a street or sidewalk, apply for city permits now (some cities need more than a month’s notice). Recruit volunteers and set the shifts.

1 month before

Confirm every role. Gather costumes. Plan parking, signs and a warm room.

2 weeks before

Build the set, test lights and sound, and print the shift schedule.

The week of

One walk-through in costume, a hand-washing station by the animals, and a weather backup plan.

Standing scene

The classic: Mary, Joseph and the manger in a stable outside the church, with shepherds and animals, for an hour or two before or after a service.

Walk-through

Visitors walk a path past several scenes, from the angel’s visit to Mary to the stable in Bethlehem, often called a “Bethlehem Walk”.

Drive-through

Visitors stay in their cars and drive past the scenes. At Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Warminster, Pennsylvania, cars pass four scenes (the Annunciation, the Visitation, Joseph’s dream and the Nativity) while narration and hymns play on 94.5 FM, and each car gets cookies at the end; a visit takes 10 to 15 minutes (CatholicPhilly). First Lutheran Church in Topeka, Kansas, has run its drive-through since 1976, with 105 volunteers filling 336 shifts (WIBW).

The cast: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus (a real baby for short shifts, or a doll), one or more angels, shepherds, the three Wise Men, and a narrator or reader.

The crew: a coordinator, an animal liaison who works with the handler, parking and traffic volunteers, greeters, a costume room helper, someone for lights and sound, and a hospitality team with hot drinks.

• Share the work across ministries: youth group as the cast, the children’s ministry on cookies, the men’s group on the set (Lewis Center for Church Leadership).
• Keep shifts to about an hour in cold weather, and dress the cast in layers under the costumes.
• Set up a warm room close by for the cast to rest and change.

Most living nativities use two passages: Luke 2:1–20 (the birth, the shepherds and the angels) and Matthew 2:1–12 (the Wise Men). A narrator can read them live every 15 minutes, or you can record the readings with a few carols and play them on a loop. For a drive-through, many churches play the recording on a car radio frequency, as in Warminster.

For a shorter, child-friendly script, see our nativity pageant narrator script.

• The stable: a three-sided shed of pallets or rough lumber, with straw bales and a manger. Build it to stand up to wind.
• Light: warm spotlights from the front, and a star above the stable. Keep all lights and any heaters well away from straw: dry straw catches fire easily.
• Power: outdoor-rated cords and GFCI outlets, with cords routed away from walkways. Our outdoor lighting safety tips apply here too.
• Sound: a small speaker for the narration and carols, set low enough that the cast can talk to visitors.

Most churches rent animals from a farm or a petting zoo that brings its own trailer and handler. Prices vary a lot by region. As examples, CBS News reported groups of animals starting around $325 an hour (CBS News), and one Kentucky ranch listed about $100 for a donkey and $250 for a camel for a two-hour minimum, handler included.

• Licenses: under the federal Animal Welfare Act, an exhibitor license is the animal owner’s responsibility, not the church’s. Ordinary farm animals like sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys are generally exempt, but camels and other exotic animals need a USDA-licensed exhibitor. You can look up a vendor in the USDA APHIS public search tool. Rules for llamas and alpacas can vary, so ask the vendor.
• Welfare: the handler stays in charge of the animals the whole time. Give them shelter from wind, water and breaks, and keep crowds at a calm distance.
• Hand washing: set up a station with soap and running water next to the animals. The CDC says to wash hands right after touching animals, to use hand sanitizer only until you can wash, to watch children under 5 closely, and to keep food and drinks away from the animal area (CDC).

• Call your church’s insurer before you book animals or close a parking lot. Ask whether the event is covered and whether you need an extra rider.
• Ask every vendor for a certificate of insurance that names your church, especially the animal provider (why it matters).
• Check with the city if anything happens on a public street or sidewalk. In Houston, for example, a procession of people, vehicles or animals on a street needs a permit, minor street events need 40 days’ notice, and street closures require off-duty police (City of Houston). Rules vary from city to city.
• For a drive-through, plan the traffic: an entrance, an exit, a waiting line that doesn’t block the road, and volunteers in reflective vests.

This page isn’t legal or insurance advice. Your insurer and city office have the final word.

• Greeters at the entrance, with a printed card about your church and your Christmas service times.
• Hot chocolate and cookies, restrooms that are easy to find, and a spot for family photos.
• A simple sign with the scripture reference and the name of each figure for children.
• A quick thank-you to the cast and crew at the end of every night, and a cleanup crew with fresh straw for the next day.
• Dates for next year: add your event to our US nativity events calendar by writing to us.