A Walk Through Bethlehem, staged by Fayetteville Christian Church, will return to Fayetteville this weekend and is scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2, 3, and 4 at the church.

The event has grown to be one of the area’s most popular holiday events.

The Walk program includes a guided tour of a highly authentic “Bethlehem” as it would have looked and felt at the time of Jesus’ birth. Shops, animals, foods and inn keepers are all included in an outdoor environment that accurately reflects what a visitor to the city would have experienced.

Guests are invited to sample authentic foods, take part in crafts such as candle-making and weaving, and watch the nativity drama unfold. This year’s walk features an expanded marketplace, a new dramatic program, and new opportunities to encounter the sights, sounds and sensations of Bethlehem.

Visitors will also leave with a commemorative “denarius,” a coin fashioned after the real Roman coinage that would have been used to pay taxes during that time.

“People were returning to Bethlehem and other cities for the census, which was how the Roman empire kept up with people and collected taxes from them,” explains the church’s senior minister, Dan Roberts. “Yes, even back then people were paying taxes.”

Roberts indicates there is a magic to the walk that draws Christians and non-Christians alike, and is particularly meaningful to children.

“Christmastime has a glossy sheen to it,” he says. “When people step into the real place of Bethlehem, it’s a ‘wow!’ moment.”

Roberts points out that scholars believe Bethlehem’s population was likely around 4,000 people.

“That means the entire city was about the size of one of today’s golf course communities,” Roberts says. “ It’s pretty amazing what grew from that tiny, out-of-the-way town.”

A Walk Through Bethlehem will be open Friday, Dec. 2 from 6-9 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3 and 4 from 3-8 p.m.

Fayetteville Christian Church is at the corner of New Hope and Hickory Roads in Fayetteville. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. Call 770-461-8763 for more information.

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