Join us for Celebration worship services, in-person and online, every Sunday at 10 a.m.

Away in a Garage: an Oakland Pageant

O come ye, O come ye, to a nativity scene entirely free of thee’s and thou’s, therefore’s and wherefore’s (you can get your fill of those when Pastor Ben recites the King James Version on Christmas Eve).

IF YOU MISSED THIS EVENT, OR WANT TO HEAR IT AGAIN, YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT BY CLICKING HERE
On Sunday, December 14th, at the 10 AM Celebration, join us for an Oakland pageant! There you will see the migrants María and José seeking a safe place to stay in the busy and inhospitable streets of Oakland, the warm-hearted family who gives them a place to stay in the garage, the night shift janitors receiving the good news, and the Magi wandering around among highway overpasses and back alleyways. Special appearances as well by Our Local Sports Team and some very friendly young mice.
The children and youth of the church have worked hard to put this pageant together and we can’t wait for you to see it!
The script was written by Talitha Amadea Aho, our Coordinator for Children, Youth, & Family Life, and is available to lend to other churches by request.

(with apologies to their original author, the lyrics that follow are meant to be sung to the tune of “once in royal David’s city”)

Once in Oakland, west of the highways,
was an unheated backyard shed
where a mother laid a baby
in a laundry basket for a bed
Mary was that mother mild
Jesus Christ, her little child

He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord on high
and his dwelling was a garage
and only mice were there to hear him cry
With the poor, oppressed, and lowly
lived on earth our Savior holy