HPPC’s ‘Nativity Dance’ goes viral
By Edward Terry, The Layman, December 16, 2009
It starts like most any other telling of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, but quickly takes a turn that the youth at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas won’t soon forget.
Inspired by the “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” video, which more than 33 million YouTube users have viewed since July, the Highland Park Presbyterian Church’s “Nativity Dance” also has gone viral.
With approximately 4,000 views in only one day, it’s by far the most popular video posted to the HPPC Upstream Youth account on YouTube. It’s also among the top 15 videos posted on YouTube under the search term “nativity.” The video is at the top of Google’s search for “nativity dance” and it’s been picked up by various blogs and social networking sites.
The best part, HPPC’s Youth Minister Dr. Lars Rood said, is that the light-hearted video could be a tool for sharing the Gospel.
“This video may not be something that draws kids closer to Jesus, but at least they can go to their friends and say, my church is trying new things,” said Rood, adding that young believers often struggle with sharing their faith with peers. “Maybe it will open some doors to help kids talk about their faith or their church.”
Presented at HPPC’s annual Club Christmas event on Dec. 13, the video begins with the standard reading of Luke 2. The youth, many with attentive stares and folded arms, quickly loosen up and turn their heads when loud dance music interrupts the reading. Soon adults portraying Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds and the Magi dance down the aisles in the same style as the famed wedding dance video. The 5-minute presentation concludes as Mary leads the cast in a final dance as she holds high the infant Jesus in celebration.
So far, the video has had the viral effect Rood was hoping for. After it was posted, Rood monitored Twitter and Facebook to see word of the video spread. A neighborhood blog posted it and received a month’s worth of hits in only 24 hours, he said. HPPC’s senior pastor, Dr. Ron Scates, shared it with pastors across the country as well.
Rood is especially proud of how the youth have recognized the effort the ministry staff put into the presentation.
“It’s easy in youth ministry just to get up and teach. A lot of times that’s what (the youth) expect,” he said. “When they saw them doing something different from what they normally see, they were completely excited.”
The closest thing to a criticism came by e-mail from a seminary professor who kiddingly pointed out that the Magi did not arrive until years later. Rood said many older viewers have told him they weren’t so sure at the beginning of the video, but later found themselves smiling.
“To have the opportunity to laugh and see something fun and celebrate something done well has been a real positive thing,” Rood said.