Volunteers make church’s live Nativity a success
“We have reinforcements coming!” Susan Hanyen said gleefully as she stood on the front lawn of the New Utrecht Reformed Church in Bensonhurst on Saturday.
Hanyen, vice president of the church’s consistory, or parish council, was in charge of the live Nativity scene the church was presenting as a pre-Christmas treat for the neighborhood.
Volunteers play the Biblical roles of Mary, Joseph, an angel, shepherds and a shepherd boy, standing in a stable with a manger and a small doll as a stand-in for the baby Jesus to give local residents a chance to feel like they’ve gone 2013 years back in time to Bethlehem.