Christmas Plays for Church

It is traditional for many Christian church groups to put on skits and plays during Christmas. Many Christmas plays for church will centralize around the Nativity story and the birth of the Christ child, while others will explore the theme of drawing lost souls back to the church through Christmas miracles.

Christmas plays for church can include scripts for as little as one or two children or adults or a full cast with over 25 members. Settings may vary as Christmas plays range from the Nativity story to modern plays which take place in the present time. Some can be done on a set made to look like a manger while others might call for a set that looks like a home or school. The average Christmas play script for church usually runs between 30 minutes to an hour depending on the story.http://www.pioneerdrama.com/Plays-Christmas.asp Many of the church Christmas play scripts and instructions found online can be downloaded and printed out. Some are free to print while others will require payment or a subscription fee. Some websites will provide the scripts in the form of a PDF file, so be sure to have an updated version of a PDF reader before downloading.

This page serves as a guide for finding Christmas plays and scripts for Christmas plays or pageants for both children and adults.

The Nativity Plays

During the middle ages people started to lose interest in celebrating the Christmas holiday. In the year 1223 St. Francis of Assisi combined interactive theatre with Christmas carols and created the earliest Nativity plays. During those early plays, people in the audience could get involved and sing along, while performers acted out the story in each song.Why Christmas?: The History of Christmas Carols

The scripts for Nativity plays can be found online. The characters in this traditional play, which is also called a Christmas Pageant or Shepherd's Play, includes Joseph, Mary, the Baby Jesus, the Wisemen and Angel. Sometimes (especially for children's plays) kids can play the barn animals, other times props are used.