A small project to highlight the biblical origin of Christmas has mushroomed into a huge exhibition at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sidney.
The display of about 600 nativity scene fills the church’s gym and two rooms, and is open to the public for free between 2 and 9 p.m. until Sunday.
While the Come Let Us Adore Him exhibition is officially in its seventh year, organizer Barb Watters said it began about 10 years ago when her son, who was living in Houston, Texas, told her about a display of nativity sets there.
“I thought, ‘We could do that,’ and we started with just three or four sets.”
Over the years, church members contributed their nativity scenes to the display, which now includes crèches from as far away as Israel, Germany, Norway, Mexico, Japan, France, Italy and Africa, as well as across Canada and the United States. One crèche from the Philippines is made from bottle brushes while another, hand-carved by a denturist using denture material, is so tiny and intricate, a magnifying glass is provided.
The church, at 2210 Eastleigh Way in Sidney, opens the display to the public for a week. Groups from seniors homes often come by in the early afternoon while families tend to drop in after dinner.
“People come in and say, ‘You’ve brought back the real spirit of Christmas,’ which we tend to forget when we’re out shopping and fighting for parking spots,” Watters said.
The exhibition includes a “white room,” a monochromatic display with twinkling lights and white fabric covering the walls and ceilings. Another room features more whimsical displays, including nativity scenes with figurines of bears, penguins and Cabbage Patch dolls — a favourite with kids of all ages, Watters said. There are also paintings and tapestries, some the full height of the walls, as well as needlework and carvings.
The collection keeps growing, in part because seeing the range of crèches inspires people to acquire more.
“I now have 300 nativity sets myself,” Watters said, adding her husband jokes that collecting crèches has become her “disease.”
To amuse younger visitors, there’s an activity room where children can take part in nativity-themed crafts, such as making a stained-glass-like window or colouring pictures.
The display has its own website — nativityexhibit-sidneybc.com — which warns that no nativity sets will be for sale and no financial contributions will be accepted. Parking is free and some refreshments are provided.
Visitors often offer donations, Watters said, “but we tell them, ‘No thank you. This is our gift to you.’"
