People looking to celebrate the Christmas story had a chance to do so with a living nativity in Sioux Falls; a vivid scene was on display at Southern Hills United Methodist Church. It was the 25th year the congregation has hosted the event. 

A host of heavenly angels greeted visitors at last year's living nativity.

“Live animals, live people reenacting the nativity,” Chris Beach said. 

Teresa and Chris Beach are helping make it happen. 

“We’re everything from setting up, building a stable, to being Mary or Joseph or a wise man or a shepherd or whatever we might need, to tearing down,” Teresa Beach said. 

You can see some of last year’s scenes here. 

The three kings were on hand, with costumes updated for the pandemic.

Time with family and the Christmas story are just two reasons people take time to celebrate in December, and these motivate this couple and this event.  

“For me I think it is, with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, people forget the real meaning,” Teresa Beach said. 

“I enjoy all the people that come out, and we [my wife and I] have been doing it long enough– we’ve been doing it about 15 years– that we are now seeing it’s a family event, and we’re seeing the kids that have grown up and are starting to have kids and bringing their kids back,” Chris Beach said.