by Tara Pedersen

All Saints' Church (Woodbridge, VA) experienced the Gingerbread Bash outreach event with friends and family this past Saturday, December 7! The church invited friends and neighbors without church homes, inviting them to sit at their round table. We also extended the invitation to our outreach ministries.  Instead of making Gingerbread houses, we assembled gingerbread nativities! Each family received a Nativity kit.

We played games, sang carols, and after building our candy nativities (complete with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Gabriel, shepherds, Kings, and manger animal cutouts), we listened to one of our church members read the Christmas story from the Bible. The children then retold the story to their parents using their cutouts. Our master of ceremonies challenged our guests to discover Jesus as the greatest gift this Christmas, a Savior born for all people, to save us from our sin.

We were blessed with an amazing turnout of 15 church families, and 15 unchurched families. Of the 15 church families, we had three legacy families that brought their adult children raised at All Saints’, and who brought their grandchildren. Christmas cookies & milk were served to end this Advent event, a joy-filled celebration for all ages!

Tara Pedersen is the Children’s Ministry Director at All Saints’ Church in Woodbridge, VA.