455 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ 85203

MesaTemple.org
  • BOOK A TOUR
  • Menu Canvas
    • Home
    • Things To Do
      • Events
      • Visitors’ Center
      • Family History Classes
      • Sunday Services
    • About Mesa Temple
      • History
      • Announcements
      • Contact Us
      • Temple Session Schedule & Info
    • Inspiration
    • Easter Pageant
455 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ 85203

MesaTemple.org
  • Things To Do
    • Events
    • Visitors’ Center
    • Family History Classes
    • Sunday Services
  • About Mesa Temple
    • History
    • Announcements
    • Contact Us
    • Temple Session Schedule & Info
  • Inspiration
  • Easter Pageant

International Nativity Display at Visitors’ Center during Christmastime

Homepage Community Events International Nativity Display at Visitors’ Center during Christmastime

International Nativity Display at Visitors’ Center during Christmastime

Jill Adair
September 9, 2022
Community Events, Mesa Temple Christmas Lights, Visitors' Center

As the outdoors surrounding the Mesa Temple dazzle with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights during the holidays, inside the Visitors’ Center a unique display of nativities from around the world is also meant to brighten the community’s celebration.

These representations of Jesus Christ’s birth come in all sizes — from miniature to several feet high; from a variety of mediums used to craft them — wood, copper, porcelain, metal, fabric, resin and natural items picked up by locals in remote areas of the world; and from every continent and various countries and cultures across the globe, including Tonga, Nicaragua, Madagascar, Costa Rica, France, Mongolia, Ghana and more.

According to Susan Fuller, who has been chair of the committee for the annual display since 2005, there will be somewhere between 100 to 150 of these nativity scenes on exhibit in the multi-purpose room for the first time in the new Visitors’ Center.

The Mesa Temple and grounds closed in 2018 for renovations. The temple was rededicated last December, but the nativity display didn’t return until this year, aside from one nativity set up last year in the Visitors’ Center.

 

“It will be beautiful. It will be international,” Susan says of the 2022 event, adding she works with a group of eight women who bring this project to fruition.

“Many of the nativities are homemade,” she says. “And what is so special about that is that they represent someone’s love for Christ. It’s part of their testimony. This whole display is all about the birth of Christ, and I think it’s very touching.”

A Thomas Kincaid centerpiece nativity will be featured in the main part of the Visitors’ Center with a Kincaid-like chalk painting behind it by local artists Karen Schmeiser and Trisha Faith Wilkins. A new crèche will accompany it – built from the large temple grounds crèche that is being revamped for wider viewing.

The center will also be decked out for the holidays with lighted Christmas trees and other decorations.

Admission is free and the center is open for self-guided viewing through a variety of exhibits, including the nativity display, each evening from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Thanksgiving Day through New Years’ Eve.

 

 

 

 

Tags: Mesa Temple Christmas Lights Nativity display
Previous Story
Mesa Temple Christmas Lights return this year
Next Story
Interested in Family History?

Related Articles

Mesa Temple Christmas Lights return this year

After a five-year hiatus, Mesa Temple Christmas Lights return this...

Upcoming Event

31Jan
  • 10:30 am
  • By Missionaries

U.S. Land Records: The Public Land States, Or Homage to The Square – PYEATT

Recent Posts

  • Authors present 80-year history of Mesa Easter Pageant
  • 2023 Mesa Easter Pageant Dates Announced
  • Heritage Series presents “Matriarchs of Washington Park, Mesa”
  • Children’s Bible Stories Puppet Shows at the Visitors’ Center
  • Interested in Family History?

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This is required.
MesaTemple.org is not an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Contact Us

[email protected]
(480) 964-7164

Visitors' Center Address
455 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85203

Mesa Temple Address
101 S Lesueur, Mesa, AZ 85204

News

  • Authors present 80-year history of Mesa Easter Pageant Wednesday, 25, Jan
  • 2023 Mesa Easter Pageant Dates Announced Wednesday, 25, Jan
  • Heritage Series presents “Matriarchs of Washington Park, Mesa” Thursday, 12, Jan
Copyright ©2021 MesaTemple.org All Rights Reserved
en_USEnglish
es_MXEspañol de México kmភាសាខ្មែរ zh_CN简体中文 zh_TW繁體中文 ja日本語 ko_KR한국어 tlTagalog en_USEnglish
EN
EN
ES
KM
ZH
ZH_TW
JA
KO
TL
SearchPostsLogin
Wednesday, 25, Jan
Authors present 80-year history of Mesa Easter Pageant
Wednesday, 25, Jan
2023 Mesa Easter Pageant Dates Announced
Thursday, 12, Jan
Heritage Series presents “Matriarchs of Washington Park, Mesa”
Wednesday, 28, Sep
Children’s Bible Stories Puppet Shows at the Visitors’ Center
Thursday, 15, Sep
Interested in Family History?
Friday, 9, Sep
International Nativity Display at Visitors’ Center during Christmastime

Welcome back,