BJ Blanchard: News from Glen Ellen, Dec. 21

Glen Ellen Community Church Live Nativity Scene|

Last Saturday night, under clear skies and a half moon, the moaning and braying of beasts could be heard throughout the O’Donnell Lane neighborhood of Glen Ellen.

Approaching the historic Glen Ellen Community Church at the corner of Henno Road and O’Donnell Lane, community members came upon an enchanting live nativity pageant, a Biblical scene with small shepherds, young angels, Mary and Joseph in flowing robes – all within a makeshift stable of hay and a simple manger. The three kings wore crowns of gold and carried boxes overflowing with riches to present to the baby Jesus. The charming angels had wings of white feathers. With Christmas lights strung in the hazy winter mist of early evening, the outdoor Nativity pageant has been performed here since 2002, and for centuries around the world. It is the narrative of the Christian Nativity performed by grownups and children together, to pass stories and traditions down from generation to generation.

Glen Ellen’s Live Nativity is particularly magical because it includes live animals, consistent with the town’s rural character. There was a sweet grey calf, a patient donkey, several noisy sheep and two magnificent camels. The camels are named Sahara and Jaffa, and are owned by Brian Ness, proprietor of Vintage Kennel Club, south of Sonoma on Bonness Road. One small shepherd boy cradled a new-born black lamb, offering “Do you want to pet it? He won’t bite.”

“And it came to pass, that Joseph went up to the town of Galilee. Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them…” And so, the Christian tradition continues here, amid others, to give communities a sense of who we are, different and the same, and the goodness of the human spirit.

The church has recently undergone a transition. Rev. Pastor Jim Hill, who ministered to his flock there for years, retired, and a new couple have taken the lead.

According to new Pastor Lance Pruett, he and his wife Quinn woke up suddenly at 4 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 9, 2017, in their Three Forks, Montana home. Lance says that he and his wife heard God speaking directly to them at that moment, saying they must go and rebuild the church in Glen Ellen. Lance, whose background is in the construction business, thought this meant pounding hammer and nails, but soon realized God meant rebuilding the church community of Glen Ellen after the October fires. He and wife Quinn, quickly sold their Montana house, drove directly to California, and presented themselves to Rev. Jim Hill at the very time of Hill’s retirement from the Glen Ellen Community Church. The congregation quickly selected the Pruetts out of 30-some applicants, and they have ministered to the Glen Ellen Community Church since this past June. They find California not frenetic or shallow as they had feared, but rather have landed in a small town reminiscent of their Three Forks, Montana community, where they can walk to the café or market, greeting friends and parishioners along the way.

Pastor Lance is a man of many interests. In addition to his Pastoral duties, this 42-year-old “God-fearing man” is a self-confessed “car nut,” antique car enthusiast, and an amateur musician. He and Quinn are hikers and bicyclists. In addition to building community, preaching Sunday sermons, developing a youth ministry, participating in prayer meetings, he’d like to introduce a slightly updated kind of ministry that includes music and contemporary issues.

Pastor Lance and his wife Quinn celebrate the importance of these tiny Glen Ellen traditions like the live nativity pageant, in this historical crossroads of Glen Ellen.

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