Lake Zurich church adapting popular Christmas pageant to pandemic-safe outdoor hike

For more than 30 years, Quentin Road Baptist Church in Lake Zurich has packed people in to see its annual Christmas pageant, which in recent years has featured a cast of more than 300 performers, flying angels and live animals - including a camel.

But because the global pandemic has made large indoor events unsafe, church officials have adapted the show to be done outside.

Instead of sitting down and watching actors move around on stage, those who attend the sold-out Christmas Luminary Hike will be the ones on their feet. Small groups of attendees will wind their way around a newly laid half-mile trail through the woods near the church. At 10 points along the path, audiences will stop and watch actors perform a short scene from the story of Jesus' birth.

Josh Julian, the director of marketing for the church, said church officials are used to seating about 10,000 guests in total for the pageant in a typical year. This year, however, they will likely be able to accommodate about half that number. Julian said they had their first rehearsal Sunday night and it went well.

"The path was literally forged from nothingness and it's beautiful, just like a nature trail," Julian said of the route, which was made with donated mulch. "And it's lined with thousands of Christmas lights."

Julian said Senior Pastor Jim Scudder Jr. had the idea to take the pageant outside back in August or September.

"We had been waiting to see what the local scene would be like COVID-wise, but it never improved," Julian said.

He said the creative team behind the hike is the same as it was with the regular pageant and many of the same performers will be featured this year. While there won't be live animals in the outdoor version, there will lighted animal displays with effects to make them seem real.

For more information on the show, which is already sold out, visit quentinroad.org/luminaryhike.