Posada is an old Mexican tradition where young people dressed as Mary and Joseph travelled from house to house asking for a room for the night and telling people about the imminent arrival of Jesus in the weeks leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Eve they would visit the local church to re-enact the nativity and place figures of Mary and Joseph in a crib. You can read about this in our feature article Views on the News for December 2007.
Modern day Posada uses nativity figures of Mary and Joseph who travel from place to place. This gives each 'host' the chance to create their own celebration in their home or place in the community, worshipping and reaching out to their communities with the real message of Christmas, making room for Jesus in their lives.
Our church was part of Posada in 2007. The maps below show the route our Posada figures followed before arriving at Teddington Baptist Church for our Posada service at 10.30am on Sunday 23 December 2007. The photo gallery below shows our Posada figures in and around the streets of Teddington - and beyond.
The various places who have given Mary and Joseph a home have kept a diary. Some of the entries in the diary are as follows:
Home 1: We made some Nativity figures and placed them in front of the Posada whilst having some festive music playing in the background. The children then played the Posada board game while Mum read them a story about the very first Christmas.
Having the Posada in our home gave us a chance to think about what Christmas truly means amidst the chaos of busy Christmas shopping etc. At the end of the evening, we said a special prayer of thanks.
Home 2: The boys were very intrigued to have this beautiful picture in our lounge. It is a really great idea and we look forward to taking Mary and Joseph to our friends' house.
Home 3: This evening the children listened to the Christmas story and message as their bedtime story and we discussed all the important characters whilst looking at our Nativity scene.
Our daughter has asked if we can see the baby Jesus that Posada Mary and Joseph will have, as our Nativity scene has a baby Jesus in the manger!
We have enjoyed hosting Mary and Joseph - they are very amenable guests! - and our daughter doesn't really want them to leave. She has asked if they can come again. Thank you for the opportunity to bring the Christmas story to our children in a fun and interesting way.
Stanley Infant and Nursery School
Laurel Class looked at the plaque, showing interest towards the painted symbols of Mary and Joseph. They noticed Mary had her hands together. We discussed praying.
Chestnut Class really enjoyed looking at the plaque. We thought the paint smelt quite strong and we thought it was very beautiful. We enjoyed looking after the plaque.
Cherry Class thought they look really good. We enjoyed looking after them and we think it is important to be kind at Christmas for Jesus' birthday.
Bay Class really liked looking at the plaque. We thought the plaque looked really good because it had beautiful rainbow colours in it. We also briefly spoke about the plaque.
Pine Class looked at the plaque and we liked it because it is beautiful and we like the star. We talked about the Christmas story while we looked at it.
As Birch Class arrived back from the playground, they all gathered round and started to pray! We had a little discussion about what they remember about this pretty plaque. One child in our class suggested that the shape of the wooden plaque resembled the church's windows and doors. Thank you for letting us see it.
Maple Class loved the shaded colours and particularly enjoyed the way they stood out. We liked the way the bright and dark colours mixed together. We loved the star and its shape and how it seems to protect everyone in the stable. We thought it looked almost as if it was coming to life. It also made us think about the play that we're doing at school and the special time coming up.
Sycamore Class loved having Mary and Joseph and the star in their class. We liked the colours of the star and its points and thought the star looked kind. It reminded us of the Christmas story. We also liked the colour of the sky. It made us think about Christmas.
Entrance Hall
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Busy Bees
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Church kitchen
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Open Door
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Church Road
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outside St Peter's and St Paul's
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Corner of Broad Street
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At the bus stop
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Outside Teddington Hospital
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Outside Tesco's
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At the recycling centre
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At Teddington Railway Station
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Outside Teddington Cheese
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Outside Teddington Library
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Outside Teddington Baptist Church
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At St George's School, Ascot
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At Elleray Hall
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At Stanley School Assembly
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At Squire's Garden Centre
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In Londis Pharmacy, Stanley Road
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In Woolworth's
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Outside a home in Hampton Road
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Inside a home in Hampton Road!
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