The Journey, an interactive Christmas story.

The Journey, an interactive Christmas story.

Experience life the night Christmas began.

When: Wednesday – Sunday, Dec. 3-7 and 10-14. Registration from 6-8 p.m. nightly. Groups depart every 5 minutes.

Where: Savannah Christian Church, 55 Al Henderson Blvd., Savannah Georgia, 31419

Tickets: $5/person or max of $20/family. Children 5 and younger free. Group discounts. Military, fire, police personnel with ID qualify for $5/family “Hero” pass.

Information: www.savannahchristian.com or 912-629-4765.

It takes a village – actually a teaming congregation of enthusiastic volunteers – to recreate the village of Bethlehem for the nearly 15,000 expected to descend on Savannah Christian Church’s campus in December to see “The Journey.”

“It takes hundreds and hundreds of faithful volunteers to stage a production as large as this,” said SCC drama director Wayne Sullivan.

During the first two weeks of December, “The Journey” recreates life the night Christ was born. Visitors arrive at Savannah Christian and are assigned to a tribe going to Bethlehem to pay taxes and register as citizens of the Roman Empire.

They encounter the angel telling Mary and then Joseph that she is with child. They see the Wise Men. They board a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee – a large lake on the church campus. As they enter the gates of Bethlehem, they hear the pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer, the braying of donkeys, and the shouts of fishmongers selling their catch. Someone calls, “have you heard about the baby Jesus?” and they follow shepherds to a stable, where they find a newborn babe lying in a manger.

Bringing the Journey to life is as exhausting as it is exciting, as labor-intensive as it is awe-inspiring.

“I do it for that one person who has never experienced the Christmas story like this, whose life will be changed,” said volunteer Kay Garletts.

Garletts directed the building of the Bethlehem set years ago and oversees its annual refurbishment. Volunteers come each year to hang burlap and muslin and apply moss and Styrofoam stones to the building frames.

She compares the entire production to a canvas onto which various groups paint layer after layer.

“Some of us create the set, but then the costumed actors come out, and the torches and fires are lit, and then you add the music and lighting, and it’s just amazing,” Garletts said. “We put people in another place and time. You don’t just listen to a story or hear a song. You enter and become part of a complete experience, nothing less.”

Live animals create part of that experience. For the two weeks the church hosts “The Journey” each year, the Savannah Christian campus becomes home to a small zoo that includes goats and geese to horses and hens.

The animals are borrowed from nearby farms and from Historic Savannah Carriage Tours. Tour operators John and Kelly Tarr, members of Savannah Christian, loan their large draft horses to be ridden by Roman soldiers in the production.

The animals are tended by teams of church volunteers who come morning and night to feed and water the animals and clean stalls.

“I love seeing the faces of the children who come to ‘The Journey,’ who are so excited to see and touch the animals,” said volunteer Nancy Gorman. “And I see adults looking around as if they can’t believe it all. My prayer is that we don’t lose that sense of wonder. People are so moved by ‘The Journey’ experience, and it’s just a privilege to be a part of it.”