Christmas Eve at Blackwood Uniting Church in December 2018 was an Australian-themed nativity called “Christmas in the Shed,” named after an album and songbook by the same name compiled by Adelaide singer-songwriter Leigh Newton. Leigh was our special guest singer and storyteller, backed by a band of locals and friends, with locals involved as actors and crew. I put together the program from a bunch of sources. Apart from two carols and “Gloria,” the music came from the books/albums “Christmas in the Scrub” and “Christmas in the Shed” compiled by Leigh, all available from Willow Publishing.
Photos were mainly from flickr.com on Creative Commons licence plus some of my own. (For example, earch at Flickr on “Australian night sky stars” and then refine the search by choosing “All Creative Commons” – here’s the results page.)
Here are the photographers whose work we used with acknowledgement: Indigo Sky Photography, David Molloy, Wayne England, John Tann, Mark DeSouza, Rich Hoeg, Georgie Sharp, Tom Burke, Steve Bittinger, Pete Lytwyniuk, Klaus, Zweer de Bruin, Elizabeth Donoghue, Michael Theis, Trevor Dobson, Matt Brand, Ron Bennetts, Geoff Whalan, Dylan Fogarty-MacDonald
I used a couple of videos from Youtube after contacting the authors for permission.
We printed a bunch of animal masks and stuck them on popsticks – from Sparklebox also here and some other places on the WWW. Search on “animal masks” and you’ll probably find what you want. Masks were given out mainly to children as they arrived. We also had some nativity dressups that they could wear if they wished.
I also printed the following names and put them on seats – TRUCKS, SHEEP, DINGO, DONKEY, KOOKABURRA, COCKATOO, STAR, KANGAROO, COW, CHICKENS. There were about 15 of each and we put them on seats in groups, not randomly (better for participation.)
Here’s the script with some links.
PRE-EVENT
1. Outback Drone film by Nicholas Sleigh. I trimmed out some of the 4WD footage and replaced the soundtrack with “Salire” by Hilmarsson, Holm, Dyrason and Holm from the album Circe.
2. Outback Shed – farm photos of mine with music from the soundtrack to “Paris, Texas” by Ry Cooder.
OPENING
Photo of night sky with music “Withayul” by Gurrumul.
Narration (first part inspired by “The Time Flow of an Ancient Land” from “Campfire of the Heart” by Noel Davis. This is a fantastic book of spiritual reflections which really helped me find the mood for the evening.). Unfortunately it is now out of print. This piece has since been published in my book Deeper Water (Mediacom Education 2021.]
Let’s take some time to sit awhile
Here under the span of sparkled sky
Among the scrub and the tall grey gums
Here between twilight and a new morn
Let’s take some time to sit awhile
drawn by campfire light
and the warm company of friends
Let’s leave our familiar place
boil a billy, sip some tea
share a story or two
and smell the life and breath
of this big red land
Let’s take a breath,
have a laugh,
maybe heave a sigh
and step out of today
into the flow of memory and wonder
This is a story of old
older than centuries
It seems like a dream
What if it had happened here?
among the Kaurna people
on whose land we meet
whose elders we respect
whose culture we value
What if a young brown child
had been the centre of this tale? I wonder…
That story would belong to others to tell.
Tonight we imagine an Outback nativity
Christmas in an Aussie shed
a Southern Cross in the sky
a campfire nearby
a magpie’s cry
a young mum’s lullaby
the drovers’ sigh
as they herald the birth of a tiny child
who is a whisper of the promise
of a breaking dawn
of hope, peace, joy and love
Tonight we imagine ourselves as part of the story
among those outback battlers
the native animals and farm herds
the angel host and the sparkling stars
all witnessing God’s amazing gift of his Son.
Tonight we invite you participate. As you arrived, you were either given something to hold or something to wear or found a word on your seat. This is your character for the evening. When you see the sign, we’d like you to make a sound. We’re going to practice now.
ANGELS – (sing) AAAH! EVERYBODY IS AN ANGEL!!! Everyone stands.
STAR – TWINKLE TWINKLE Hold your stars up high!
DINGO – HOWL
KOOKABURRA – LAUGH
COCKATOO – SCREECH!
KANGAROO – T T T T T T
DONKEY – CLIP CLOP tongue sound
SHEEP – BAA
COWS – MOO
CHICKENS – CLUCK CLUCK
TRUCK – RRRRM! RRRRM!
SONG – “Christmas is Near” by Jeanette Wormald from Christmas in the Shed (audience join in on chorus).
NARRATION – Shearer by the campfire
“The Coming Bushman” from “Outback Christmas” by Pro Hart and Norman Habel.
CONGREGATION: ANGELS – AAAH! (all stand)
NARRATION: Angel
The story began when God sent me to Mary to tell her that she would have a Son and that he would be the Son of God.
SONG – “Glory to God in Loving Light” – this is a new song written by Leigh Newton at our request. Music score here. The congregation joined in the chorus, the verses sung by an angel (Leigh) and Mary (one of our singers).
Chorus
Glory to God in loving light
Who takes our fear and gives us life
Who turns the powers all about
This child of God now grows in us.
NARRATION: Voice of Joseph (adapted from “The Ride to Bethlehem” from Outback Christmas by Pro Hart and Norm Habel. Also out of print. Norm’s text was the starting point for much of the narrative.)
The governor had sent out word
that all small folk like us
should go down to Bethlehem
to register their claims.
So, down we rode, as honest folk
down through the outback scrub
winding slowly through the heat
the flies, the wind and dust.
For miles they watched us travel
and wondered at our pace
the hungry dingo
CONGREGATION: DINGO – HOWL!
the red kangaroo
CONGREGATION: KANGAROO – T T T T T T
the sulphur-crested cockatoo
CONGREGATION: COCKATOO – SCREECH!
and the kookaburra
CONGREGATION: KOOKABURRA – LAUGH
They all watched a slender pregnant girl
ride slowly through the heat.
Perhaps they wondered how we’d fare
under the burning sun
Would he make it on to home
or be born under the stars?
CONGREGATION: STAR – TWINKLE TWINKLE
For miles we rode on slowly
as heat waves flowed before us
till the pains began to stab
the hidden core of Mary’s soul
Then far beyond the last mirage
we saw a small bush town ahead
that little town called Bethlehem
inviting us to rest.
SONG – “Donkey, Donkey” from Christmas in the Scrub. Congregation join in on chorus.
NARRATION – Shearer
Mary travelled with Joseph to Bethlehem for the census because the Internet had crashed. So they had to front up in person. Imagine that! It was a tough journey and the baby was due any day. When they arrived, there was nowhere to stay anywhere in the town, so they ended up sleeping rough in the shed behind a pub right near the sheep
CONGREGATION: SHEEP – BAA
and next to the cows
CONGREGATION: COWS – MOO
and not far from chickens
CONGREGATION: CHICKENS – CLUCK
And outside they heard a dingo.
CONGREGATION: DINGO – HOWL
And finally, everything was still. It was a clear sky, and the stars were glowing.
CONGREGATION: STARS – TWINKLE TWINKLE
SONG – “Open the Door” by Jan Oliver from Right-Side Up Christmas available from CMLA here. Congregation join in on last verse.
Last verse
We will open the door, we will open it wide,
for the lost and the poor and let them inside.
We will open our hearts and welcome each one
with the love that is part of the birth of God’s son.
STORY – “The Christmas Pub” Part One: told by Leigh Newton from Right-Side Up Christmas available from CMLA here.
NARRATION – Mary – adapted from “Jesus’ Birth” from Outback Christmas.
SONG – “Mary and Joseph’s Lullaby” by Leigh Newton from Christmas in the Scrub. This was presented as an item.
SONG – “Silent Night” – congregational song
STORY – “The Christmas Pub” Part Two: told by Leigh Newton from Right-Side Up Christmas available from CMLA here.
NARRATION – Shearer
We shearers were sitting around the campfire, spinning yarns as usual. The sky was full of stars as I’ve ever seen!
CONGREGATION: STARS – TWINKLE TWINKLE
The sheep were making a bit of noise.
CONGREGATION: SHEEP – BAAA! BAAA!
Will you be quiet! Nearby a dingo barked.
CONGREGATION: DINGO – HOWL!
Suddenly the sky lit up like the glow from a bushfire!
CONGREGATION: ANGELS – AAAH! (Everyone stands)
(people sit down)
NARRATION: Angel
It’s OK! There’s no need to panic! We’re here with good news! It’s time to celebrate!
A Saviour has just been born. He is God’s chosen one, the Lord of all. Go and see for yourselves!
NARRATION: Shearer
Well, we were packing death. We hadn’t even been drinking! And then, there was a whole choir singing Van Morrison!
Band – G-L-O-R-I-A….. (by Van Morrison, recorded by Them)
NARRATION: Mark
CUT IT, WILL YOU? Actually, it was more like this.
CONGREGATION: ANGELS – AAAH! (Everyone stands)
NARRATION: Angel
All the glory belongs to God in heaven, and let there be peace on earth!”
SONG – ”Angels from the Realms of Glory.” Congregation – Verses 1, 2 and refrain.
NARRATION: Shearer
Well, we were gobsmacked! “Strike me up a gumtree” I said. Bill said, “We’d better go and check this out!” Ted said “Crikey! Let’s go into town and see if we can find outwhat the blazes is going on!” So we gobbled up our last bit of tucker. Checked that the sheep were OK.
CONGREGATION: SHEEP – BAAA! BAAA!
Then we all piled into the ute and went flat chat down to the pub.
CONGREGATION: TRUCK – RRRRM! RRRRM!
And, blow me down, there WAS a kid lying in the horse feed – red as a sunburnt Tasmanian, crying his lungs out like the crowd at a John Farnham concert yelling “You’re the voice!” I mean, try and understand it!
AND THEN – we heard the roaring of distant wheels.
(Those in the audience who were Truck Drivers had been given baseball caps. We recruited three of the kids on the spot and gave them steering wheel covers to hold as steering wheels. They drove around the church during the song.)
SONG – “Three Truck Drivers” – Leigh Newton and band. This was presented as an item. Video loop was from here and used with permission.
CONGREGATION: TRUCK – RRRRM! RRRRM!
NARRATION: Shearer
So that’s most of our story of the outback pub and a night we’ll always remember of a long journey, a warm welcome and a safe place for a child to be born. And strangers who shared the joy and then spread the news that tonight our world changed, for we discovered that this place is where God makes a home, right here among us: Jesus, who grows up and makes God’s goodness and love so real that this place and every place, this time and every time are different. And we’re thankful for that.
SONG – “Christmas in the Scrub” – Leigh Newton. Congregation join in on chorus.
SONG – “Aussie Jingle Bells” – Colin Buchanan. Music from Christmas in the Shed. All sing.
NARRATION – some adapted from “Welcoming the Future” in Campfire of the Heart by Noel Davis.
This is not the end of our story.
It’s a beginning –
each moment is God’s gift to us
to be received with grateful hearts
to be shaped and formed and fired with love
in making God’s world the place it might be
It’s a beginning of the story of Jesus
who didn’t stay in a stable
but grew to become
a teacher, a healer
a mate, a stirrer,
who would give his life
refusing to give in to evil.
This is now our story
– dawning right here
being told as we live it as a gift from God
who laughs and cries with us
every step of the journey
as we learn to live with hope.
Let’s make this our story
for the future is like a newborn child
needing all our care and commitment
and the power of our love
so that tomorrow can grow
to be full of joy and peace for everyone
Let’s welcome tomorrow
as a celebration of the gift of God’s love
not just for us,
but for everyone who walks this brown land
and everyone beyond who yearns for a safe home
who seeks a new start,
who longs for friendship
who hungers for hope
everyone – for we are all children of God.
SONG – “God’s Gift to the World” by Gerry Holmes from Christmas in the Shed. Congregation join in on chorus.
This post is offered in memory of our Christmas angel Rachel Williams, whose light, laughter and love remain one of God’s wonderful gifts to our world.