\u201cBuilding community, emphasizing that, over doctrine or dogma, is really the Moravian practice and tradition at our core,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A boy points to miniature wooden figurines that are part of a Nativity scene in the community putz, a Moravian tradition that retells the story of the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n A boy points to miniature wooden figurines that are part of a Nativity scene in the community putz, a Moravian tradition that retells the story of the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Moravians relate to the story of Jesus, Mary and Joseph<\/a>, Rice said, because their ancestors began as a refugee church fleeing religious persecution. The Nativity is also a poignant reminder today, when the number of people fleeing their homes<\/a> because of war, violence and persecution continues to rise worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so crucial because this story is not just Jesus\u2019s story of 2,000 years ago. It\u2019s today\u2019s story. And we need to make sure that we\u2019re living the word that we were told when it comes to these refugees,\u201d said church member Sarah Wascura. \u201cThat word is to give them refuge and to take care of them and to love them as ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n A town founded on Christmas Eve<\/p>\n The Moravian Church is one of the world\u2019s oldest Protestant denominations. Its name comes from the historical provinces of Bohemia and Moravia in what is now the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n Their beliefs of practice over dogma began with a religious reformer, John Hus, who led a protest movement against some of the practices of Roman Catholic hierarchy. Hus believed congregants in his church should listen to Mass and read the Bible in their native Czech instead of Latin. He was accused of heresy and burned at the stake in 1415.<\/p>\n His ideas were carried on by his supporters, who broke with Rome and founded the Moravian Church, or Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren) in 1457 \u2014 decades before Martin Luther\u2019s Protestant Reformation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moravians facing persecution eventually fled to Herrnhut, Germany, and established the original Renewed Moravian Church settlement, according to accounts of church history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moravian missionaries later settled in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n On Christmas Eve in 1741, their leader, Count Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, who was visiting them, led them to a stable, where they sang the hymn \u201cJesus Call Thou Me.\u201d Its lyrics say: \u201cNot Jerusalem \u2014 lowly Bethlehem \u2018twas that gave us Christ to save us.\u201d Thus inspired, Zinzendorf named the settlement Bethlehem. <\/p>\n A beloved tradition retells the story of the birth of Jesus<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Nativity scene is illuminated by a Christmas tree on Payrow Plaza in Bethlehem, Pa., known as \u201cChristmas City, USA,\u201d on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n A Nativity scene is illuminated by a Christmas tree on Payrow Plaza in Bethlehem, Pa., known as \u201cChristmas City, USA,\u201d on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Bethlehem\u2019s first settlers brought with them hand-carved figures to retell the story of Christ\u2019s birth. The tradition is known as the putz,<\/a> from the German word \u201cputzen,\u201d meaning to clean or decorate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt relates back to the creches of the Middle Ages,\u201d Rice said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not just a creche, which would be just the one Nativity scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, it uses figures to tell different parts of the Gospel in miniature, including Mary\u2019s annunciation and the visit of the three wise men<\/a> to the infant Jesus.<\/p>\n In Victorian days, Rice said, Bethlehem\u2019s residents would \u201cgo putzing\u201d \u2014 visiting each other\u2019s homes between Christmas Eve and New Year\u2019s Day to look at Nativity scenes.<\/p>\n In 1937, the local chamber of commerce launched a campaign promoting Bethlehem as \u201cChristmas City USA.\u201d As part of that promotion, they took the tradition of the putz to the historic Hotel Bethlehem on Main Street. Thousands turned up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe story goes that the hotel got so crowded that they couldn\u2019t really accommodate the number of people that were coming to see it, and they asked Central Moravian Church to host it.\u201d<\/p>\n For every Christmas since then, the community putz has been put together by the church\u2019s congregants and displayed at the nearby Christian education building.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more than Christmas for four weeks a year,\u201d said Wascura, who went to the putz on her first date with Bob Wascura, her husband of 33 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nature of the faith heritage of the city is something that is never forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Central Moravian Church congregants sing at a \u201cLovefeast\u201d service in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)\n <\/p>\n Central Moravian Church congregants sing at a \u201cLovefeast\u201d service in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n A boy waits for the start of the community putz, a Moravian tradition that retells the story of Christ\u2019s birth with miniature wooden figurines, music and narration, in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)\n <\/p>\n A boy waits for the start of the community putz, a Moravian tradition that retells the story of Christ\u2019s birth with miniature wooden figurines, music and narration, in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n On a recent day, she led families visiting the community putz to their seats. After recounting a brief history of the Moravian Church and the Pennsylvania city, she drew a curtain to display the dozens of wooden figures \u2014 angels, shepherds, kings carrying gifts \u2014 in a tiny landscape decorated with pebbles, wood and moss.<\/p>\n Children and parents listened to the recorded voice of Janel Rice, who narrated the biblical story about the other Bethlehem.<\/p>\n \u201cWe might wonder why setting up a putz and telling the story of Jesus\u2019 birth is so important to the Moravians, and now to the city of Bethlehem,\u201d Rice says in the recording. \u201cOne reason has to do with the naming of the city itself.\u201d<\/p>\n The church choir, after some singing, gave way to the powerful sound of the renowned Moravian Trombone Choir, known for playing its brassy tunes from the belfry of Central Moravian Church. When the lights turned on, children approached the stage to look up close at the figurines and point at surprises near the manger, including miniature zebras, lions and giraffes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel really lucky to live so close to Bethlehem with all of the history here and specifically the history pertaining to Christmas,\u201d said visitor Kelly Ann Ryan. \u201cIt\u2019s just something that we can\u2019t miss every holiday season as it rolls around.\u201d<\/p>\n She came to Bethlehem from a nearby town with her husband, Daniel, and their 5- and 8-year-old sons to see the community putz, in what she said has become a family tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cTelling the Christmas story this way is a great way for kids to connect with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lighting candles on Christmas Eve, joining Santa for a sleigh ride<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Handmade beeswax candles made by members of Central Moravian church are stored in a closet in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in preparation to be lit during Christmas services. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Handmade beeswax candles made by members of Central Moravian church are stored in a closet in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in preparation to be lit during Christmas services. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Christmas \u2014 from the Christian celebration to the secular commercial holiday \u2014 is omnipresent in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n On a recent day, Santa Claus<\/a> checked on a red sleigh (drawn by horses instead of reindeer) outside Central Moravian before he led families who hopped on for a tour of Bethlehem and its Moravian church settlements<\/a>, which were recently designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dressed as Santa and Mrs., Claus, Gordon Crowell Jr. and Ellen Crowell greet people outside a restaurant in in Bethlehem, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Dressed as Santa and Mrs., Claus, Gordon Crowell Jr. and Ellen Crowell greet people outside a restaurant in in Bethlehem, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Others strolled to nearby holiday-themed wooden huts or along Main Street with its stores decorated with Christmas globes and Moravian stars. Some stopped outside an Italian restaurant to greet Santa and Mrs. Claus, who welcomed diners and posed for photos.<\/p>\n Across town, vendors sold ornaments at Christkindlmarkt, in the shadow of rusting blast furnaces of Bethlehem Steel illuminated in red and green. That company once supplied steel<\/a> for construction of the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and other landmarks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christmas mugs and decorations on display at a store in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Christmas mugs and decorations on display at a store in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo\/Luis Andres Henao)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n At Central Moravian, the choir sang hymns while sacristans handed out buns and mugs of coffee to families who enjoyed the sustenance in their pews at the \u201clovefeast.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n After Rice delivered a final blessing, Linda Thudium walked up the stairs and opened a large closet, where the congregation keeps thousands of handmade candles<\/a> wrapped in red ribbons that they light during Christmas services.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, this is Christmas \u2014 looking at these candles,\u201d said Thudium. She recalled attending Christmas Eve services with lit candles since she was 5, a tradition she continued with her children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, this is just magical. I remember my parents doing this, my grandparents,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a wonderful warm feeling of being connected with this church.\u201d<\/p>\n __<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858827_19_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858829_972_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Central](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858830_475_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858832_417_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Handmade](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858833_569_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dressed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858834_955_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Christmas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780858836_439_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n