GSL's La Posada featured in Episcopal News Service Article

The following is a portion of an Episcopal News Service article. The complete article can be found here.

Grace-St. Luke's Church in downtown Memphis in the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee has no Spanish-speaking members but has adopted Las Posadas as a tradition, said Donna Sanders, a junior high Sunday school teacher and the event coordinator.

The celebration, now in its seventh year, has been adapted to fit local needs, she added. Hectic schedules and frigid temperatures transformed it into a one-day event and brought the procession in from the cold last year, Sanders said.

A candlelight service precedes a lively procession and singing. "We sneak in Christmas carols even though it's still Advent," Sanders said. A series of short plays keep the focus on the reason for the season and participants get to dress up "as anyone who might have been at the manger," including lots of angels and animals.

"It puts the emphasis back on the birth of Christ, instead of all the present-buying and commercialism. It's fun and it gets the kids' attention back to Jesus being born, the angels, the whole story and that was really our goal.

"Everyone is encouraged to come dressed as their favorite nativity character. It's fun but meaningful ... a time to get together informally but also to incorporate some of the spirit of Christmas because it gets so hairy during the holidays."

Anywhere from 80 to 115 attend and afterwards participants enjoy a traditional Mexican feast, dancing to the strains of a mariachi band and piñatas, she said.

The music and the food and the dancing hooked Cecilia Hartney, 8, and a student at Grace-St. Luke's parish day school, who said she's been an angel and a dove but this year is the Star of Bethlehem.

"I wanted to be the star because the wise men followed the star to the manger and because the angels tell the shepherd to follow the star to the stable in Bethlehem," Cecilia said during a Dec. 13 telephone interview from her home. "I'm going to have a navy blue T-shirt and a star and other white glowing stars behind it," she added.

Her older sister Aynsley, 12, a camel this year, said that while portraying Mary a few years ago, "I realized what actually happened. That Mary and Joseph went around and people didn't let them stay at their inn because it was full."

She also realized something else: "When we go to Las Posadas we get to know each other a little better," Aynsley said. "We hang out and talk and dance and it's fun."

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