Episcopal Press and News

Search the Episcopal Press and News

Year

All 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962

Enter search query

Creche Display Will Highlight Anglican Presence During Bethlehem's Millennium Year

Episcopal News Service. November 18, 1999 [99-178]

(ENS) There are nearly 80 of them, made of many different materials: rubber, marble or even silver. Every one of them portrays the tender scene -- mother, father and child -- at Jesus' birth 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, according to Gospel accounts. And all will make up one of the world's largest displays of creches when the Bethlehem Peace Museum opens in early January.

This ambitious project was launched in 1996 by the Anglican Consultative Council, through the Compass Rose Society, as part of the Anglican Communion's contribution toward the renovation of Bethlehem in preparation for a year-long millennium celebration there. Working with planners funded by the Swedish government, the Anglican Communion will furnish the museum, located in Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, which commemorates Jesus' birthplace. The creches have been collected over the past two years by bishops and their spouses around the world.

"It has been such a satisfying project," said Barbara Payne, wife of Bishop Claude Payne of the Diocese of Texas. As the head collector of creches for the project, she sent letters to the wives of the primates who attended the Lambeth Conference in 1998, seeking as wide a response as possible. She followed that this year with letters to the spouse of every bishop in the Anglican Communion.

The idea was to collect one creche from each country in the Anglican Communion, she said.

From silver to ebony

"We received so many, and they're so different from each other. One woman sent a sterling silver one from the Philippines, the creche from Uganda was made of hand-carved ebony, and a creche sent from England is peopled with characters from The Canterbury Tales," she stated.

While all of the contributions have been welcome, Payne said, some were more touching than others. "We received one from every country in the Episcopal Church," she noted. "Even Honduras, with all of its problems in recovering from Hurricane Mitch, shipped a creche along with someone who happened to be traveling to the Diocese of Texas." According to Payne, only three countries in the entire Anglican Communion declined to participate in the project.

The Episcopal Church's contribution to the collection is a 400-pound sculpture of the nativity, carved from a snow-white block of Colorado Yule marble. It is the creation of Joe Gangone, 27-year old, Lakota Sioux and a full-time student at an art institute in Mission, South Dakota. The institute is part of Sinte Gliske University, on the nearby Rosebud Reservation.

"When the spouses planning group met to think about an artist for the creche, the members agreed that they wanted a Native-American artist," said Ann Robertson, wife of Bishop Creighton Robertson of South Dakota. "I talked with the art institute, whose instructors asked students if they would be interested. Four artists said they wanted to participate."

Late last summer, the Robertsons and members of the community in Mission, met at the art institute to look at the finished pieces. "Actually, two were finished, and two others were not," said Mrs. Robertson. With the help of the instructors, she said, the group settled on the marble sculpture.

Held by eagle wings

She said that Gangone began his project with sketches last April and worked steadily through the summer on the stone. The adult figures in the scene wear buffalo robes. They are in a stylized tipi with the child, who is held by eagle wings. Mrs. Robertson explained that Gangone had worked up to 14 hours per day during the hot prairie summer -- so hot that a friend built a lean-to on the side of the institute building to provide a slightly cooler space in which to carve.

An anonymous benefactor who has helped to support the institute, and who helped purchase the stone for all four creche projects, has said that he will see that all eventually will be sold, she said.

All the creches were forwarded to Jerusalem for storage. There, Mary Page Jones, wife of Bishop Bob Jones, dean of St. George's College, found space at the school. The creches will soon be transferred to the museum building, which was scheduled to be finished by December 6. A curator has been hired by the ACC to arrange the pieces for display. While the museum will be permanent, no decision has been made on how long the creches will be displayed, said Payne.

About 2 million tourists are expected to visit Bethlehem next year. The town, whose residents number about 30,000, has undergone a $100-million renovation to accommodate the visitors.