Flash flood damages, destroys Nativity scenes stored in church basement
Jun. 25—Volunteers sorted and washed dozens of wise men, donkeys, angels and baby Jesuses, then laid them out to sun dry in the
There were a lot of Josephs, too, and as many Marys, made from ceramic, wood, plastic, metal, cardboard and other materials.
Friday night's flash flooding filled the church basement with 3 feet of water. Among the heavily damaged and lost items: Trinity's storied collection of more than 150 Nativity scenes from around the world.
Some of the more durable creches would be saved. Others, including a soaked Czech paper doll set from
The Rev.
It normally took three days to arrange the nativity scenes. Students from
The 3 feet of water in the basement was polluted with oil from the church's flooded-out elevator, which will have to be replaced. Church members used Dawn dishwashing detergent mixed with water in plastic bins to scrub each piece they thought could be saved.
Seddon lamented the loss of much of the historic collection, which came from all parts of the world and featured African, Eskimo, Native American, European and other renditions of the birth of Christ described in the Bible.
"The incarnation of God on Earth is extremely important to Episcopalians, and the nativity is the coming-to-Earth event," he said. "This hits you right in your theological gut."
Most of the creches were donated by the late
"What enchanted Doris was that God came to Earth to a family, and wherever she went, the creche looked like the people there, a family there," said church member
By 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, the creche clean-up crew was opening the ninth box of the day.
Out in the sun was a brightly painted Navajo creche that was undamaged except for a flower that had broken off a cactus.
On a table inside the church Great Hall stood a 12-inch-tall white porcelain Joseph, a Mary on her knees praying and a baby with his arms held out. A church member had scrubbed them down and the pieces looked unscathed there on a cookie baking sheet.
"One creche at a time,"
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