When he was a child, Luke Hartman, 17, vividly remembers a delicate glass plate with an engraving of a Nativity scene. It’s a favorite of his from a collection kept by his grandmother, who died when Hartman was 11.
He remembers her taking out the plate and carrying it with great care as one of more than 20 Nativity scenes that decorated her house at Christmas time. She also shared the displays at a Nativity festival in Upland, where she lived. Now, Hartman carries on the tradition to keep the memories alive.
“All these things connect me to her past and connect our family to her past because she has such a rich history of all these stories,” Hartman said.
Nativity scenes appear in different formats and sizes and in yards, churches and windows of homes across the Inland Empire and the world. In San Jacinto, hand-carved figurines from Italy herald the birth of Jesus Christ. In Redlands, a roof-top set that glows at night features historically accurate mannequins. In living rooms, small figurines of the Holy Family, animals and wise men carry the stories of family history. All are a connection that ties the present to the past in hopes that the tradition will continue into the future.
Aside from the multitude of Nativity sets in Inland homes, many are outside or inside churches.
In Redlands, a Nativity scene sits on the roof of First Congregational Church. At night, a scene with the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and three wise men with a camel and a few sheep looking upon a cradle with the infant Jesus Christ is illuminated for all to see.
“This is an important part of our city that’s ingrained in the city life,” said Jon MacDonald, senior minister at First Congregational Church of Redlands.
The history of the Nativity scene can be traced to 1223, when St. Francis of Assisi staged the first scene in the Italian village of Grecio, a 2022 Smithsonian Magazine article reported.
He set up a manger with an ox and a donkey, preached to villagers and became overwhelmed with emotion when he spoke of the child born in Bethlehem, a 2012 Smithsonian Magazine article states. The sets portray the birth of Jesus Christ and traditionally include the three wise men, barn animals, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus — who is often placed in the manager on Christmas Day.
In Redlands, the recently refurbished scene is incredibly detailed, from the jewelry worn by the wise men to the simple clothes on Mary and Joseph. The figures have been repainted to reflect what people would have looked like in the Middle East at that time. They even have articulating fingers. The community can see the life-sized mannequins just as it has for almost 80 years.
“It’s a privilege for me to be able to steward this tradition,” MacDonald said. “… Of seeing myself in the chain of people that have been steward to the history of this church and the traditions and the place our church has in our city … and just feeling a sense of just joy.”
The church, which dates back 144 years, is the oldest in Redlands. The Nativity scene has been a part of the church and city since 1947.
“At this point, there’s nobody in the community who doesn’t have a memory of the Nativity scene,” MacDonald said.
The crèche is a reminder to step away from the season’s consumerism and come back to its spiritual meaning, he said.
“It’s attached to Christmas, it’s attached to the person of Jesus, and this crèche is a reminder to the community it’s OK to have hope,” MacDonald said. “There’s something you can hope in.”
Nativity scenes in homes are just as valuable.
Those collected by Hartman’s grandmother over a lifetime came from her travels and loved ones. He called them a gift from her to the family.
“It’s really been, been awesome, to see how much she put into it and then also how I can put that passion from her life into doing this again,” said Hartman, who took many of her sets to the Christmas Nativity, Art and Music Festival earlier this month.
The festival, in its final year at the Church of Latter Day Saints in Upland, has been a tradition for the past 30 years.
Upland resident Nancy Merrick attended the same festival as Hartman and showcased Nativity scenes she holds close to her heart as stories of her life.
Her oldest — a wedding gift from her parents — marks 60 years of marriage. In the set, the carved Fontanini figures sit in a carved-out piece of wood.
“You know, they all bring back, something,” Merrick said. “Memories.”
Her scenes reflect trips with her husband and family to Europe, Alaska and Central Mexico but also mark the passage of time. Several were gifts from her daughters made from flower pots or wooden blocks.
As each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were baptized at 8 years old, they received a Nativity scene from their grandma. One day they, will split her Nativity sets between them, Merrick said.
The displays in the festival are special to Merrick because they connect her faith and the season and help the community get into the Christmas spirit.
“I so much believe in Jesus Christ and his birth and that’s what kind of makes the world to me,” Merrick said. “So it’s just very special. It just brings the reason, you know, this is why we celebrate … But you know people are different and I think it helps other people that come to also get that feeling.”
Seeing the Nativity set appear in church each year can bring feelings of wonder and joy, especially among children.
In San Jacinto, a set of carved wooden figures at St. Anthony Catholic Church dates to the 1990s.
The display, imported from Italy, is set up behind the altar, beneath stained glass windows and statues of Mary and Joseph.
Inside a stable of wood with a tarp roof and floor covered in hay, Mary and Joseph figures stand with barnyard animals in front of an empty manger. The three wise men and a shepherd are on the floor in front, kneeling and holding gifts for the child.
Parish Councilmember Robin Navarro said that, when the scene was first given to the St. Anthony, she remembers how bright the colors were. One of her daughters exclaimed that the figures were larger than her.
The set is part of the fabric of the church — which recently celebrated its 135th anniversary — and the Christmas season, she said. Her children are now grown, but Navarro remembers their joy in seeing it and the joy that St. Anthony children still have when it appears each year.
It’s like being in Bethlehem, she said.
“Which I believe was kind of St. Francis’ plan,” she said of the saint credited with creating the Nativity scene. “… it was just making a moment so people could feel more connected in a modern world to what happened then.”
Spiritually, seeing the scene opened the hearts of others, Navarro said.
Herself included.
“I know when I first saw it, it was kind of like wow, Jesus, Joseph and Mary,” Navarro said.
To MacDonald, the senior minister in Redlands, tradition is what makes the Christmas season special.
Nativity scenes and other holiday customs connect the old world with the new one, he said, letting people see things that have come before and will continue after they are gone.
Especially for the younger generations, who are living in a quickly evolving world, the tradition awakens wonder, MacDonald said.
“Christmas is always connected to the past,” he said. “It’s connected to our personal past. It’s connected to the traditions we grew up with that, that made this time feel very special. So, you can’t separate it.”
