REGINA -- A Regina church is preparing for a Chirstmas pageant that they describe as anything but ordinary.

"Instead of everyone rehearsing beforehand, we pop up and take on some rolls as we go,” Minister of Knox-Metropolitan United Church Cameron Fraser said. “As we tell the story. People take on a costume and apart of the play.”

The family friendly pageant is being held at the Artisan on Tuesday afternoon.

It's one of three services Knox-Metropolitan United Church is holding on Christmas Eve. Fraser said he wanted to hold this service at the Artisan because it’s a welcoming place, where everyone, no matter their beliefs, can come together and feel comfortable. He also said the nativity story is all about welcoming people of all walks of life.

"It’s about people who had to leave their homes,” Fraser said. “It’s about people who were looking for a safe place to be. It’s about people who faced rejection from some and eventually found welcome in a radical way. If we honour that story by living it out the rest of our lives I think we're really capturing what the story invites us and calls us too."

Nancy and Sagan Yee are using their Christmas Eve to finish last minute shopping. For them, Christmas time is all about getting together with family.

"That’s just the season,” Nancy Yee said. “That’s just what families do here in Canada. We just get together and be with family that you haven't seen for months."

At the Regina International Airport, Armond and Darlene Delanoy are jetting off to meet up with family in Hawaii. It will be their first Christmas away from their home in Weyburn, but they're excited to celebrate the holidays someplace new.

"It will be quite different, on the beach and doing some different things," Darlene Delanoy said.

Other travellers arrived at their destination of Regina to see family here.

"I think it’s a great thing that families that can get together for any holiday," Joyce Rathgeber said.

 

"Christmas is a special time and when the weather cooperates and when you're all here you have to take advantage of it," Susan McDonald said.