Christmas
Nestled in the Stable
Christmas Youth by David Moberg
23 pages
2 storytellers, any number of children as animals and townspeople
Various animals in the stable aren't happy when two strangers intrude upon their quiet night. The sparrows, cows, and sheep, along with mice and doves are upset and wish the humans would find another place to stay. They don't want to share their grain or warm hay. And after walking for miles, even the poor donkey is too tired to help Joseph and Mary. But then God fulfills his most glorious promise: Baby Jesus is born. Everything changes as each group of animals gives a special gift to comfort the Baby and his parents. At last, as all finally sleep, the tired ...
Old-Fashioned Christmas
Adult Christmas by Andy Gregg
25 pages
3 m, 4 w.
Janie wants a real old-fashioned Christmas, one that brings back the spirit of the old days, but her boyfriend is too busy working at the mission to help her. As hard as she tries, everything goes wrong - the popcorn balls are too sticky, the homemade candles collapse, and the live Christmas tree falls over. Janie thinks Christmas is ruined, but it's only the display that's failed. With the help of her family and boyfriend, Janie rediscovers that the Christmas spirit is in each of us, giving and sharing all year long. Performance time: 30 minutes.
Pageants of Praise
Adult Christmas by Roy Speckhard
0 pages
flexible cast
These five different Christmas pageants put the Gospel of Jesus firmly at the center of spiritual dramas that grapple with the events and basic needs of everyday life. Each hour-long program represents an entire service, including a responsive reading, a place for a message from the pastor and an offering, all interspersed with suggested songs that can be sung by a choir, a group of children, or the congregation as a whole. Each script offers active speaking and non-speaking roles for 40 to 50 participants. These pageants present an ideal opportunity for wors...
Real Miracle
Adult Christmas by Carol B. Eckel
9 pages
5 m, 10 w.
What is the Christmas miracle? The Angry Man feels the only miracle is that we are still alive. The Tired Woman feels the miracle is that we still bother with the holiday. The Greedy Boy believes the miracle is getting anything you want. The Sad Woman has stopped believing in the miracle. The Girl-in-White enters and the characters find a different miracle of Christmas, they light their candles and stand beside her. Is the miracle friendship, laughter, giving, or hope? The most important miracle is love from which all the candles are lit. A beautiful pageant ...
Return to Bethlehem
Adult Christmas Musical by
0 pages
5 m, 3 w, and two choruses
Ivan and Victor, two somewhat weary and cynical men, have just finished playing the roles of the magi in the church's Christmas pageant when they realize the third man, who was recruited at the last minute, insists upon still being called Balthazar. Confused about him and curious why the other church members haven't returned to change out of their costumes, the two men return to the nativity scene on stage to find the cast, like Balthazar, really believe themselves to be at the stable that special, holy night. Five original, unforgettable songs. This is an id...
Scarlet Ribbon
Adult Christmas by Alberta Hawse
19 pages
8 m, 6 w, narrator.
In Part I a modern wife, serene in her happiness, scoffs lightly as her old-fashioned mother tells the children the Biblical story of Christmas, acted out in pantomime with a narrator in Part II. In Part III the modern wife finds, in near tragedy, that the scarlet ribbon of Christmas, which runs through the Bible, still binds the past and the future together in faith and hope. A presentation that offers easy rehearsal scheduling, and yet highlights the Christmas spirit. Performance time: 90 minutes.
Something Wonderful (Musical)
Christmas Musical Youth by Elizabeth May Willson
28 pages
6 boys, 2 girls, 8 flexible parts, and extras
Even the sheep sing in this heartwarming original musical drama, although it is serious about presenting the true Christmas story with a salvation message. In answer to her granddaughter's questions, a grandmother reads Luke, Chapter 2, and as she does the whole story unfolds on stage. Smaller churches can "double up" on roles, while larger groups can include everyone by increasing the singers, angels, etc. Beautiful music, including a recitation and song, "Don't Wake the Baby" for your littlest performers.
Performance time: About 35 minutes.
The Stable Story
Children Christmas Puppets by Larry Damico
14 pages
2-3 puppet masters, 2-3 voices, 2 narrators, 1 stagehand
How can an angel do an important job when he can’t fly? This heartwarming and delightful story, told by narrators and shown with puppets, takes us back to the journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem. Complete with a donkey seller, innkeepers, an innkeeper’s wife, shepherds, and a wise guy, the angel must deliver important messages, often after crashing from the sky! Ultimately the angel and the visitors come to worship the baby, the king, and someday, the Savior of the world. With gentle humor, “The Stable Story” shows us that Christmas is filled with mirac...
Timeless Christmas
Resource Youth by Michelle Van Loon
21 pages
Flexible casting
These short, easy-to-stage pieces make it simple to have your church's youth become an active part of a Christmas worship service or outreach. Included are two reader's theatre works based on classic literature, made fresh for today's audiences: "The Selfish Giant" and "Where Love Is, God Is" require little rehearsal time. Three readings, "The Child of Bethlehem," "Mary's Good Night Song" and "Wise Men and Shepherds," are short works full of big meaning. To round out the collection: "The Gift of Song" highlights the history of six familiar carols and "Central...
Unexpected Gift
Adult Christmas by Lori Wilkerson
21 pages
6 m (with doubling), 3 w, 1 adult flexible, 1 boy, 2 girls.
See the Nativity through the eyes of a family in the second century, "new" Christian believers in awe of the recent miraculous events. Jacob, a middle-aged shepherd, visits the home of Gaspar and Vashem and their children. The children demand Jacob tell the story of his grandfather, one of the shepherds who was visited by the angels announcing the birth of Baby Jesus. Vashem then tells the next story, that of the innkeeper. Finally Gaspar relates the story of his grandfather Melchoir, one of the wise men, and how he asked for a small strip of Jesus' blanket. ...
Unto Us A Child...
Adult Christmas by Nancy Harper
20 pages
5 m, 5 w, 1 boy, 1 girl, extra teens as youth group.
Elizabeth, pregnant with her third child, blames God for the recent car accident which killed her husband, Mark, a young minister. Distraught and grief-stricken, Elizabeth even contemplates giving up the baby for adoption. Her parents, strong Christians, reach out, but nothing helps until their pastor brings a special young woman to visit. The last person to see Mark alive, she tells about the healing comfort he gave her and her husband in the hospital on the death of their infant. The faith of those around her gives Elizabeth the courage to go on. "Unto us a...
Voice of Christmas
Adult Christmas by Rev. John Wintermute
12 pages
2 speaking parts.
A minister, alone in the sanctuary, wants something different for Christmas Eve service, something with a real emotional kick, perhaps a famous person. Then the Voice from above speaks. For every glitzy idea the minister has, the Voice counters it. Finally by recounting Jesus' birth, the Voice seems to get through to the minister. The simple nativity story is best. The minister pulls out a tape recorder proclaiming, "But I do have a celebrity!" The tape, however, has only one voice - his own. The minister realizes the old, old story of Love's greatest gift gi...
Story for the Ages (Musical)
Christmas Musical Youth by
58 pages
25 or more flexible parts, one soloist, optional choir
Rachel is sent to Bethlehem to find a "good news" story for the newspaper but can't find anything worthy until shepherds and angels tell her of a wonderous birth. As first the shepherds then wise men go to a simple stable to kneel before the Babe, Rachel realizes she has found her story - a story that will surpass anything she had hoped for. Here is God's gift for all people. It is a story that will outlast time, a "Story for the Ages." Seven beautiful songs including Rachel's song, "Bethlehem Town," the shepherds' and angels' songs, "Gloria" and "Be Not Afra...
Supplicants: An Advent Drama
Advent Drama by Robyn Parnell
11 pages
2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible and chorus
Using historical and contemporary voices, "Supplicants: An Advent Drama" broaches thought-provoking Advent themes that are often overlooked during the holiday season. The play's characters, including a Hebrew man circa 10 BCE, a present-day businessman, a physician, a soldier, and a homeless woman, anticipate deliverance from distress even as they despair of present circumstances. The play features non-denominational Christian spiritual issues and is appropriate for family audiences. About 20 minutes.
Then Came Jesus (Musical)
Christmas Musical Youth by
46 pages
6 boys, 5 girls, and 3 flexible parts, choir
Young people will respond to and telling the Christmas story from a different viewpoint make this musical one you'll remember. The story is about a grandfather, a Rabbi, and a young boy and his friends who come face-to-face with the promised Messiah. You will be moved as Rabbi Yarvich cries out to hear God's voice in "Jehovah." You will smile and laugh as the spirit of greed overtakes young Levi and his friends as they sing "Jingle, Jangle." But your heart will melt as Levi sings "Could It Be True," a song longing to believe the prophets of old when they fore...