TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

A Star In The East

ADVERTISEMENT

By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: December 10, 2008

BRANDON - He didn't arrive in the world heralded by angels and a blazing star. Nor was his first bed a manger surrounded by beasts of burden.

But as 8-day-old Ethan Dawson joined his parents, Deanna and Greg, for a rehearsal of their roles as the holy family for the annual Walk Thru Bethlehem, he seemed to take on the persona of the character he was chosen to play: Baby Jesus.

He never uttered a cry of protest. In fact, he seemed perfectly content in the replica hay-filled rustic wooden manger at Kings Avenue Baptist Church. Swaddled in a satin baby blanket to protect him from the cold, Ethan slept through the noise and activity around him as if he somehow sensed his role required the utmost dignity.

That's not unusual, said the Rev. Chuck Richard, pastor of Kings Avenue Baptist Church. Each year for the past 22 years, seven to nine babies are recruited from the congregation to play Baby Jesus for the church's annual holiday re-creation of the first Christmas. And all are miraculously well-behaved during their time in the role.

"For our members, it's always a privilege to have a Baby Jesus in the Walk Thru Bethlehem," said Deanna Dawson. "We have a whole new definition of family planning at Kings Avenue. In January, the pastor challenges us to produce babies for the Walk."

For the Dawsons, the parents of six children, Ethan is the second Baby Jesus in the family. In 2003, 5-year-old Cecelia played Baby Jesus, and Deanna Dawson played Mary. However, they used a substitute for Joseph because the church needed Greg Dawson's expertise as a Walk Thru Bethlehem guide.

That's decidedly the most difficult task in the production because it requires so much knowledge of biblical history, Bible verse and memorization of script as the guide leads groups of 12 visitors through a mock city of Bethlehem as it looked on the night of the Savior's birth. About 40 guides take 5,000 to 7,000 visitors through the Walk during the course of four days.

Kings Avenue Baptist has about 400 active members, and 300 take part in the re-enactment, the church's annual gift to the community. The tours are free.

This year's tours will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Dawsons were living in a subdivision near Kings Avenue Baptist when they attended their first Walk Thru Bethlehem 10 years ago. Their first child, Bailey, now 11, was 11/2 years old at the time, Deanna Dawson recalled.

"We came with another family and thought it was the greatest thing," she said. "We started coming to the church, and we've been a part of the Walk Thru Bethlehem ever since."

The family moved to Plant City in 2006 and joined a church closer to their home but has remained involved in the Walk Thru Bethlehem.

Bailey Dawson said he can't imagine the holidays without it.

"My favorite role is being a fish vendor because I get to yell out and see the Roman guards yell at people," he said. "I also like being in the Jewish home because you have speaking parts."

His sister, Analicia, 9, said she always volunteers to be a cast member in the Jewish home or a shepherd so she can interact with the animals. The Dawsons used to raise goats and would bring their own for the re-enactment.

"I got to hold my baby goat," Analicia said. The family has since exchanged their goats for a pony. But Analicia's eager to spend time with an Abyssinian donkey, a breed with a distinctive mark on its back in the shape of a cross. It's the same breed of donkey that the pregnant Mary rode into Bethlehem.
Deanna said she's looking forward to reviving her role as Mary, this time with her husband at her side playing Joseph.

"It's so neat. The people get so quiet when they reach the manger," she said. "It's such a beautiful moment. Then they move on to the cross and contemplate what Christ did for us. That's why people wait hours to go through the walk. It's so well-done."

"You'll have groups of teens or college students who will cut up at the beginning," Greg Dawson said. "But, by the end, they're in awe. I've seen people get really emotional, actually break down when they see the cross. Entire groups will pray along with me."

Every once in a while, someone will be moved to change his or her life, Richard said. A nonbeliever will become a believer.

But, he said, the ultimate goal isn't to recruit new members to his church. The Walk is open to people of all denominations, all beliefs. Its purpose, he said, is to remind people of the meaning of Christmas.

"It's neat to take people back in a time machine 2000 years to the first Christmas," he said. "To be able to touch the animals that were there at the time Christ was born, to smell the same smells, hear the sounds, see the sights.

"You realize that when the people of Bethlehem went to the well, they had to put a bucket down it so they could get a drink of water. They had to grow their grain, harvest it, mill it and then bake it in a community oven so they could have bread. Their animals lived with them in a 12-by-12 cubicle. And, for 35 minutes, you get a sense of what it felt like to be a slave and to fear the Roman guards."

Keeping in character at all times, the actors serving as townspeople discuss with the guides reports of the Savior's birth, quoting the prophets Micah and Isaiah.

Dressed in armor and carrying a spear in his role as a Roman guard, Nathan Gallops will strike fear in visitors who enter the city of Bethlehem. He will badger the poor Jews who enter the city as the guides use real shekels from Israel to pay off the tax collector.

It's a part he has played for several years. However, 19 years ago, Gallops was introduced to Walk Thru Bethlehem in a much different role.

"I was Baby Jesus," said Gallops, a Newsome High graduate now majoring in criminal justice at the University of Phoenix. He was 4 months old when he played Baby Jesus in the Walk Thru Bethlehem, a role his sister, Ashley, assumed five years later.

"I've gone from good to bad," he joked.

He's also played various townspeople roles throughout his childhood. In addition, he helps his father, Dave, who oversees construction of the village on the church grounds each year, as well as heads the Roman guards. His mother, Bonnie, and sister portray Bethlehem peddlers.

The church members generally spend two weekends putting together the hundreds of muslin-covered 2-by-2-foot panels that make up the marketplace, synagogue, inn with no room and watering well. Palms, myrtle, period costumes, shekels, fish, fruit and vegetables, fresh-baked bread, pottery, salt, wine, bread, baskets, dyed cloth and metal wear add realism - along with a sheep, camel, donkey, lambs and goats.

"People tell me it's a spiritual experience on par with something you'd get at Disney," Richard said. "And we offer it for free so everyone can enjoy it, rich or poor. For some families, this is the neatest thing they do for Christmas."

As in years past, visitors will be treated to entertainment and refreshments in the worship center while awaiting their tours.

WALK THRU BETHLEHEM

WHAT: Walk Thru Bethlehem, the 23rd annual holiday re-creation of the first Christmas
WHERE: Kings Avenue Baptist Church, 2602 S. Kings Ave. in Brandon

INFORMATION: Call (813) 685-3095 or visit www.kingsavenue.org.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT