Central Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, held its third annual Christmas Light Drive Thru, 2-3 December 2022, where over 2,000 people from the community came to experience the story of Jesus' birth told through lights and dramatization.

Cars that entered the church's parking lot began driving through a maze of bright Christmas lights. In order to present the story of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem more visually, church volunteers dressed up in robes and biblical garb. As visitors drove through the lights, they met shepherds, census workers, and Mary and Joseph.

Along the way, they picked up snacks like cookies, popcorn, and hot chocolate. In the end, they received a gift and a devotional book. During the two weekends Central held the event, 2,174 people came through, including 570 cars passing through, watching the show.

According to organizer Julie Stevens, pastor of Children and Community Outreach at Central, the number that brings her the most joy is that nearly 60 percent of the cars that drove through were filled with people invited by members of Central Church of the Nazarene. Almost 80 percent of all vehicles included visitors who did not attend Central Church of the Nazarene.

Stevens believes this resulted from their members intentionally connecting with their neighbors and co-workers.

"You don't want to just have some bright lights and a lot of smoke and screens," Stevens said. "We have our people inviting people, and that helps them connect with their neighbors."

In the weeks leading up to the event, members of their congregation distributed invitations to their neighbors, available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The Christmas Light Drive-Thru began in 2020 as a safe way to attract the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. By keeping visitors in their cars and having volunteers grouped in household and family groups, the church was able to host the event successfully.

"The number of people that came through the first year and said, 'Thank you for a bit of normal,' that was a big deal," Stevens said.

The event gave Lead Pastor Mark Snodgrass, who was recently installed at the church, a chance to meet everyone as he placed himself at the gift table, greeting each car and praying with people.

"It took thousands of hours to produce and hundreds of volunteers to pull it off," Snodgrass said. "It all provided me the opportunity to shake hands and greet nearly 2,200 people, many of whom did not go to Central and probably don't have a church home. It was a golden opportunity and perfect timing."

It's too early to tell how many of the visitors will come to know God as their Savior or even come to call Central their home church. Still, Stevens hopes that the work Central’s members have done to reach out to their neighbors and invite people in will eventually make a difference.

"I think we're called to build relationships with people. There's a lot of people who will simply drive through our parking lot, and we might never ever meet them again," Stevens said. 

"But my hope and prayer are, if they don't have a church family somewhere, sometimes people may realize they need a church at some point. Or, they face something difficult, and there's a church that went the extra mile to love and care for their family. So, you hope that it puts us on the map and that the story of the Lord comes to life in a little different way."