The Buzz in Bethlehem

The youth group at the First United Methodist Church on State Street performs “What’s the Buzz in Bethlehem?” every year during the holiday season as a fundraiser (view video clip). Highschoolers have the prime speaking parts, and this year The Button’s friend Katie played Rebecca, one of the innkeeper’s daughters.

“There’s always much mayhem with bees,” was how Katie’s mom described the somewhat revisionist interpretation of the Nativity story.

We are the bees
We are the bees
We swarm, we sing, watch out we sting!
We’re here at the King David Inn

We are the bees
We are the bees
We come to this inn to visit our kin
We’re here at the King David Inn

In addition to the usual complications of too many guests (including a drama troupe from Jerusalem), the inn suffers from an infestation of bumble bees and one particularly precocious wasp named Tyler. I’ve seen “What’s the Buzz” over three or four years, and even an unreconstructed heathen like me gets a warm, fuzzy feeling every time.

Merry Christmas Ann Arbor!