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By Ayanna Eckblad

New Life Christian Church will host their 29th annual Drive-Thru Live Nativity event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the church at 1705 S.E. Marshall St.

The Drive-Thru Live Nativity is an event where people can drive through the church’s parking lot and follow along with the happenings of the first Christmas, including Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus Christ, the angels appearing to shepherds, wisemen, Roman soldiers and live animals.

Over the 29 years the event has transpired, it has become a community staple Albert Lea has to offer during the season.

In late September, New Life Christian Church hired a new pastor, Brian Mitchell. This will be his first year working on the event.

Mitchell said he is excited to be a part of the occasion because he has heard about churches putting on events like this but has never been a part of one himself.

“My wife and I are from Oklahoma City and we heard about them needing a pastor, and we came up here,” Mitchell said. “We liked what they were doing. We heard about this live Nativity, and … we were like, ‘Wow, this is really cool, and we want to be a part of it.’”

Mitchell said the people at the church have been working on preparing the various structures and set pieces of the nativity for about three months. They do repairs and maintenance during the warmer months, he said.

He also said it has not been difficult to get people to participate in the event. The church puts the word out when it gets close to Christmas, and people readily sign up.

“One of the biggest things about this is that they do this out of the kindness of their heart,” Mitchell said. They don’t expect [anything] in return. This is just their Christmas gift to the community.”

It is easy, he said, to get caught up in the details of Christmas, but he hopes the event provides a way for people to pause and reflect on what Christmas is really about.

“We tend to forget about the true meaning of where Christmas came from, so this gives people a chance just to reflect and learn the story a little more,” he said.

Long-time volunteer Scott Schroader has been a part of this event since it began almost 30 years ago. He said, throughout the years, they have only had to cancel the event a few times for bad weather and for COVID-19 shutdowns.

Schroader said the event always involves two groups of people: one group outside playing their parts in the Nativity, and a second group inside staying warm. The two groups rotate every 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how cold the weather is. There are typically around 40 people in each group.

Schroader said while they would cancel the event for a serious blizzard, a little snow does not deter the volunteers or the visitors.

“We’ll see what the weather does for us,” he said.

The Drive-Thru Live Nativity has visitors come from all over the Minnesota area, but Schroader said people from Germany have also stopped by and driven through.

The event is open to all and is free to attend. Call 507-373-1533 for more information.