California church creates unique nativity scene to highlight plight of migrants in US

The display sparked several debates after the church’s lead pastor Rev. Karen Clark Ristine shared pictures on Facebook.

Speaking to Washington Post, Ristine said that the nativity scene was intended to highlight the plight of the migrants and to suggest more compassionate ways to treat them.

The pastor said that the scene invokes Joseph and Mary’s journey to Egypt, right after Jesus’s birth, describing the holy family as the best-known refugee family in the world.

Ristine also said in her post that a more traditional nativity scene, showing the family together is displayed inside the church.

The Washington Post report said that the unique nativity scene is one of the many that have come up to talk about modern issues, including gun control, and marriage equality.

Take a look at how people on social media reacted to the California church’s nativity scene:

Powerful. This church has a history of nativity displays speaking to modern issues in a compelling way.

— StatMom (@StatMom) December 8, 2019

Wow. This is so heart-breaking and hard-hitting. Wonderful.

— Lynn Evans (@LynnDee227) December 8, 2019

It will be interesting to see how other churches and their parishioners respond.

— Phyllis Silver (@PhyllisSilver) December 9, 2019

That speaks volumes 😔

— Carol Lei (@CarolLei4) December 8, 2019

Thank you Claremont United Methodist Church you get it

— l (@DippleAnn) December 8, 2019

Joseph and Mary shoulda been dressed in foil to be true to life.

— J. Rooker (@j_Rooker) December 8, 2019

That’s how you protest injustice. Well done.

— Citizen, Interrupted (@NYwonk) December 8, 2019

This is brilliant, brave, and a true reflection of what the Christian church and community should be.

— Sheila Decker (@SheilaDecker19) December 8, 2019

After the Trump administration faced backlash for its immigration policies, the practice of separating children from their families was officially put to an end in 2018.