The Catholic Youth Coalition Board invites each parish/community/ministry to participate in this fun evangelization effort. Youth groups are encouraged to work with their parish to create a Nativity scene or Advent/Christmas light display that can be seen publicly.

Submit a photo/video of your Nativity scene by December 23, 2021.

Winners will be declared in 3 Categories:

“Traditional” – “Evangelization” – “Teamwork”

Traditional Category: This category will be judge based on its display of traditional Advent/Christmas/Nativity scenes. Size and the ability for the public to easily see this display are less important in this category. Think “beautiful,” “craftsmanship,” and “authentic.”

Evangelization: This category will be judged based on how public and how much “Good News” it shares. Size, the number of lights, and how many people can see this are the most important factors in this category. Of course, it’s not just about how big or bright, it is also about how joyful, hopeful, and Christian the display is. Santa Claus and Reindeer are fun and can be a useful starting point in a conversation within our culture. But, they’re not as important as Jesus, the Holy Family, and the Incarnation. Think “big,” “bright,” and “hopeful.”

Teamwork: This category will look at how many people from a parish participated, how well they worked together, and how diverse of a group participated. Many parishes and communities have long-standing traditions of decorating their church for Advent/Christmas. The Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s groups, parish councils, parish liturgy committees, etc., often spearhead these annual efforts, and we want young people to be a part of this by contributing their own gifts and talents. Our goal is to foster real, inter-generational fellowship and relationships. It’s not about creating different, individual displays, but about creating one parish display that is the work of everyone in the parish, including young people. Big, bright, and public are not as important as getting an entire community to participate. Think “collaboration,” “sharing,” and, well, “teamwork.”