Drive through Christ’s journey Saturday
Published 10:03 pm Wednesday, December 11, 2019
- The annual Wilroy Baptist Church panorama returns this weekend. (submitted photo)
Wilroy Baptist Church members will offer its annual, free holiday attraction to Suffolk motorists this weekend to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas.
The Wilroy Baptist Church panorama will be held Friday through Sunday at the church, located at 306 Williams Road. This outdoor, drive-through panorama is free and open to the public.
The panorama is a decades-long tradition for Wilroy Baptist Church members, going back to the early ’90s, according to Sheila Morris, one of the organizers for the panorama.
But Morris said that, while she organizes the event with Kerry Greene, the whole production is the culmination of all the church volunteers — actors, costumers, members in the kitchen warming up cocoa and coffee and many others.
Visitors will turn their headlights off and be directed by volunteers through a lighted area in the back of the church. They will slowly cruise through different scenes that depict the life of Jesus Christ, and at the end of their drive, each car will receive a goodie bag.
Morris said that it’s often an experience that deeply affects participants. The scenes brought to life by the Wilroy Baptist Church congregation create an emotional journey for those that want to see the path of Jesus first-hand.
“You’re seeing it live,” Morris said, from the birth of Jesus, to His crucifixion, to His resurrection. “It’s almost like you’re putting yourself in that time period.”
That’s the congregation’s goal year in and year out: to shine the light on the true meaning of Christmas, one car at a time.
“Everybody gets caught up in the gift giving, and with Santa, and all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas, but we lose sight of what Christmas is all about,” Morris said. “We’re celebrating the birth of Christ, and that’s what Christmas is all about. He was the greatest gift that was ever given to us.”
The hours for the Wilroy Baptist Church panorama are 7 to 8 p.m. Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, the panorama will open at 7 p.m., but also run later than Friday and Sunday, in order to extend the opportunity to attendees from the Suffolk Holiday Parade on Saturday evening.
For more information call the church office at 539-5658, or Sheila Morris at 647-9572.