{"id":53205,"date":"2025-12-05T18:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/53205\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T18:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:11:14","slug":"journey-to-bethlehem-a-40-year-tradition-is-back-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/53205\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Journey to Bethlehem,&#8221; a 40-year tradition, is back this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A decades-long tradition at <a href=\"https:\/\/southminsterpres.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Southminster Presbyterian Church<\/a> in Prairie Village is back for its 40th year this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The church\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/southminsterpres.org\/mission\/#journey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">immersive \u201cJourney to Bethlehem\u201d experience<\/a> is planned for Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6, once again <a href=\"https:\/\/johnsoncountypost.com\/2022\/12\/02\/journey-to-bethlehem-is-back-188194\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">transforming the church<\/a> at 6306 Roe Ave. into the ancient world of the Christmas story.<\/p>\n<p>The cast, made up of more than 100 volunteers, reenact seven scenes from the biblical Christmas story, as visitors \u2014 or \u201ctravelers\u201d \u2014 make their way through the interactive presentation.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s 40th edition, as in all past years, is free and open to the public each of the next two evenings:<\/p>\n<p>Friday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m.<br \/>\nSaturday, Dec. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJourney to Bethlehem is our gift to the community; come and experience the wonder of Christmas,\u201d the church says on its website.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look at what attendees can expect from this year\u2019s \u201cJourney to Bethlehem,\u201d which takes roughly 20 minutes to walk through.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275362\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-1.webp.webp\" alt=\"The tax collector calls families forward in the first scene. Photo credit Juliana Garcia. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>The tax collector calls families forward in the first scene. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275363\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-2.webp.webp\" alt=\"The travelers seek information about the star and the new king at a marketplace. Above, a merchant. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>The travelers seek information about the star and the new king at a marketplace. Above, a merchant. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275364\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-3.webp.webp\" alt=\"Then, travelers land in King Herod's court. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>Then, travelers land in King Herod\u2019s court. Above, King Herod. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275365\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-4.webp.webp\" alt=\"Three wise men tell King Herod about the star and the new king, who is believed to be a baby. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>Three wise men tell King Herod about the star and the new king, who is believed to be a baby. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-5.webp.webp\" alt=\"At the fire of nomads, an angel appears and speaks of the new king. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>At the fire of nomads, an angel appears and speaks of the new king. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-6.webp.webp\" alt=\"Shepherds discuss the strange star in the sky, and say they believe the star marks the spot of Bethlehem. Photo credit Juliana Garcia. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>Shepherds discuss the strange star in the sky and say they believe the star marks the spot of Bethlehem. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-7.webp.webp\" alt=\"The shepherds take the travelers to an inn, where the innkeeper mentions a pregnant woman and man who were directed to a nearby stable because no more rooms were available. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>The travelers arrive at an inn, where the innkeeper mentions a pregnant woman and man who were directed to a nearby stable because no more rooms were available. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275369\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-8.webp.webp\" alt=\"A family awaits a room and hears of the new king at the inn. Photo credit Juliana Garcia. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>A family awaits a room and hears of the new king at the inn. Photo credit Juliana Garcia.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275368\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/journey-to-bethlehem-2025-9.webp.webp\" alt=\"The journey ends with Mary looking over baby Jesus. \" width=\"790\" height=\"527\"  \/>The journey ends with Mary and Joseph looking over the baby Jesus. Photo credit Juliana Garcia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A decades-long tradition at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village is back for its 40th year this weekend.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,29967,17531],"class_list":{"0":"post-53205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-shawnee-mission-area","12":"tag-top"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}