St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick will not hold its annual Christmas pageant due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the school will present a Drive-Thru Live Nativity in its parking lot at 37 Pleasant St. 5-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16. All are welcome to attend.

As cars drive into the campus parking lot from Pleasant Street, they will slowly drive through 10 stations of the nativity.

“Each grade level has been assigned a station of the nativity story and will present it tableau style as motionless figures in a scene with lights and costumes,” said Shelly Wheeler, principal of St. John’s, in a news release. “As people drive through the presentation, each tableau station has a phrase or verse written on a poster that describes the scene of the tableau. Cars will be ushered through the series of tents onto Union Street.”

“We discussed doing smaller events, livestreams, or even making a video of the pageant. None of those options seemed like anything close to the community building that we usually accomplish with the pageant,” Wheeler said. “I happened to see an advertisement for a live nativity and it made me think ‘Well, we could do this, but we need a way to involve everyone and not have people gather…’ It seemed like a great way to build community, celebrate Advent, and present the nativity to our community. Teachers came together to help plan it and parents are also joining in by helping with supplies like spotlights, extension cords, tents and more.”

For those who can’t attend the drive-thru nativity, St. John’s is planning to post a video on its website.

For more information, call the school at (207) 725-5507.