Local

O little town of Gainesville

Dave Borowski | Catholic Herald

An example of a booth placed in the parish hall to show parishioners what to expect at the Bethlehem Walk.

1449850945_8835.jpg

Scripture verses will be written on scrolls and given to visitors of at Holy Trinity Church’s Bethlehem Walk Dec. 13 in Gainesville.

1449850947_66ae.jpg

Holy Trinity parishioners work on booths for Holy Trinity Church’ Bethlehem Walk in Gainesville Dec. 18.

1449850949_cfb6.jpg

The Northern Virginia town of Gainesville and the occupied
West Bank city of Bethlehem in Israel could not be more
different.

To get to Gainesville, the most challenging part is
navigating the traffic on Interstate 66. Bethlehem is a bit
more complicated; you need to traverse Israeli and
Palestinian checkpoints. Mary and Joseph’s journey from
Nazareth to Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago was even more
challenging.

For one day this Advent, Dec. 18, Holy Trinity Church in
Gainesville will lift people out of their 21st century lives
and take them to ancient Bethlehem at the time of the birth
of Jesus.

Margi Loesel, Lisa Gogal and Carrie Hall, all friends and
parishioners of Holy Trinity, wanted to bring the real
meaning of Christmas to Prince William County.

“We are friends who had a vision,” said Loesel. “(The
Bethlehem Walk) is an active meditation on the Nativity.”

Loesel said she got the idea from the Parkwood Baptist Church
in Annandale, which has been doing a Bethlehem Walk for about
13 years. She said that Parkwood Church was helpful in
getting the trio started on their own walk.

Loesel said they proposed the idea to Father Thomas P. Vander
Woude, pastor, and he loved it.

Planning began in June, with fundraisers held in August to
cover expenses.

Loesel asked families to make period clothing, plus come up
with baskets and clay pots. There are going to be farm
animals at the stable. Loesel was hoping she could find
parishioners who owned farms, but the logistics of moving
animals was daunting. Instead they will rent animals from a
petting zoo including lambs, goats, a miniature horse playing
the part of a donkey, and an alpaca for a camel.

Most of the displays will be inside in classrooms around the
church complex, said Loesel. There will be 17 displays
leading up to the Nativity scene, which is outside. The
displays will be set up like biblical vendor stalls. Visitors
will get gifts like a small clay pinch-pot or a Bible verse
written on parchment.

The interactive display will lead groups of 15 to 20 people
through at a time, following an introduction by parishioner
Tom Heim.

“His introduction will be short, but we thought we should set
the stage to make sure folks understand that we want them to
enter into the meditation,” said Loesel.

She said that Father Vander Woude wanted to ensure that
attendees realized that they are passing into a sacred place
where Christ is present.

When they enter the site itself, the first visit is to the
well, where they will be given an introduction to
first-century Judea and coins for the tax collector. At the
next stop, walkers will give the coins to a tax collector as
a reminder that the Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem
for the Roman tax census.

The remaining stops will include vendors like bread-makers
and carpenters.

Before the manger scene, visitors will enter a darkened room
called “the points of light room” reminiscent of the no room
at the inn that greeted Mary and Joseph. There will be music
with candles lit to signify the light of the world and
scrolls with bible verses.

The last stop is the living Nativity scene. About seven
families will rotate in and out with newborns playing the
part of the Baby Jesus.

The Bethlehem walk is free.

“This is our gift to the community,” said Loesel. “We hope to
renew the community. We’re trying to make this a family
tradition.”

Although there are no checkpoints to enter this Bethlehem,
Interstate 66 may present a daunting obstacle.

If you go

The Bethlehem Walk will be Dec. 18 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Holy
Trinity Church, 8213 Linton Hall Rd., Gainesville, VA. The
walk should take about 30 minutes and admission is free.

Related Articles