Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Menomonee Falls has quite the collection of nativity scenes.
"This whole thing was a gift to us. It wasn't us giving, this was a gift to us," said Nativity Collector and Donor, Bill Gay.
Hundreds of nativity scenes are on display all year long. The sets were donated by Bill and his wife Susanne. They donated over 200 of their nativity scenes in the early 2000s. Now, the display has grown to nearly 600 scenes.
"We never chose to be collectors, they chose us," Bill said.
Bill started his collection in college in his dorm. He started off with buying just one set.
"We had that one out under our Christmas tree every year. And we found another one that could be on an adjacent table. And then we found another one. And pretty soon we have a few,” Bill explained.
Bill and Susanne have collected over 900 sets. They said they were running out of places to display them.
“At over 900, we have ended. There's no place to put them,” Bill explained.
That's when they knew they had to display them somewhere. Holy Cross Lutheran Church has scenes from Argentina to Germany. They even have sets that children can enjoy at a lower level of the display.
Susanne says they collected many unique scenes over the years.
"It's very difficult to choose a favorite."
The Gays said each nativity scene has a special story. They bought some when they traveled to various countries, and they were gifted many from friends and family.
"So right away the culture was a big thing with us. You'll notice a lot of the nativities we bought because they showed the culture, the apparel that the people are wearing. That kind of thing was very important to us,” Susanne explained.
Both Susanne and Bill are retired foreign language teachers who traveled all over the world. They say the Christmas story can bring people together.
"It's a way that you unify the world. Ya know you think that this one event unifies all of these countries in the world,” Susanne said.
Pastor Meredith Musaus with Holy Cross enjoyed the display very much, "What I love the most is seeing people describe the story in their own culture and image and I think that teaches us so much."
She says it's a blessing to have the collection at her church. “We love to be able to share our building when we are able and this is one of the ways we can do that.”
The church has volunteer docents to guide visitors through the collection all year long. Pastor Meredith says to give the office a call if you plan to stop by to see the collection.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church Office: 262-251-2740
NATIVITY COLLECTION VIEWING HOURS
The collection is available for public viewing throughout the year:
· Tuesday – Thursday, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
· Sunday Mornings, 7:45 AM – 11:00 AM
Click here to learn more about the collection.
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