During Christmastime, the youth at Parkhead Church of the Nazarene in Glasgow, Scotland, suggested planning an event where participants could walk through the Christmas story beginning with the journey to Bethlehem and finishing with the birth of Jesus.

The event included stations where the youth read parts of the biblical Christmas story that were paired with thematic crafts and snacks. The Christmas walk-through experience was aimed at primary-aged kids who were joined by relatives and members of the surrounding community.

Church attendees loved the walk-through experience so much that they wanted the youth to plan another for Easter. Church leaders had already planned an Easter event but gave it over to the church's young people when leadership found out the youth wanted to put on another walk-through.

"Our church is very pro-youth," said Becky Dunphy, Parkhead’s volunteer youth leader. "We couldn't do two things, so since the youth were keen, they handed it over to them and let them run with it.”

The young people of Parkhead were eager to revise and improve their first event, especially adding more interactive elements at each station. Participants could decorate palm branches at the Palm Sunday station. The Last Supper station included a quick snack with hummus, cheese, crackers, and juice. In the Garden of Gethsemane, attendees held a sword fight with rolled-up newspapers. At the Cross station, a small wooden cross was created that kids could carry with a larger one set up for self-reflection. Kids were prompted to think about things they were sorry about and placed stickers listing things they were thankful for on the cross.

"It was nice to see how much thought these young kids were putting into the stickers they were sticking on the cross, and it was really nice to see this done in such a child-like way,” Dunphy said.

At Jesus' tomb, children decorated eggs to place in the tomb, and they watched a reenactment of the women visiting the tomb.

The church youth also learned how to improve the flow of their walk-through events, moving from what was an often chaotic experience at Christmas toward a guided group approach at Easter. This approach offered a more immersive time for all involved, allowing for reflection and a greater understanding of the scripture and the specific stories they witnessed.

"These groups were mixed, so there were people who didn't know each other well—some from the church, some from the community,” Dunphy said. “They were able to chat and get to know each other differently."

Dunphy’s parents and niece were paired with a family that attends Parkhead's Kids Club who hadn't met anyone from the church before.  

"It was nice to see this event could break down some of those barriers," Dunphy said.

Dunphy is grateful for the way the church gathered around the enthusiasm of the young people and propelled their idea into an event everyone could be proud of. Parkhead plans to hold Christmas and Easter experiences next year, and the youth are already working to bring the events to the broader community surrounding the church.