Behind the scenes: Apostolic Faith Church Campground decorated for Christmas

INCLUDES INSIDE VIDEO LOOK | Here’s what’s behind this outer East Portland Holiday display, and what it means for those who put it on. Check out their free, family ‘Christmas on the Campground’ events on December 14 and 15 …

In East Portland, the Christmas decorations at the Apostolic Faith Church Campground are a delight to see, throughout the entire Holiday season.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

In December, anyone who drives or rides in the evening along S.E. 52nd Avenue at Duke Street, in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood, has certainly seen the colorful decorations at the Apostolic Faith Church Campground.

Being curious, East Portland News asked what it’s all about.

“Our church has owned this campground property for over 100 years, and its primary purpose has always been to host our international convention in the summertime,” said their Christmas on the Campground committee chair Matt Hanson. “We have performed Sunday School Christmas programs at our church for decades – but, in 2009, we decided to attempt a program that would use our campground to tell the true Christmas story, and also share our celebration with the community.

Visitors from the community are delighted by the thousands of twinkling lights that illuminate the campus.

“That first year was simple but fun, so we decided to continue the new approach,” Hanson continued. “Over the years, we’ve added more lights and more activities, and it has quickly become one of our favorite traditions!

“These days, Christmas on the Campground is the culmination of thousands of hours of work by hundreds of people – with about 100 volunteers helping each day of our big two-day, mid-December, open-campground celebration for the public,” Hanson pointed out. But the colorful lights are on all season.

Apostolic Faith Church Pastor Dave Lambert checks out the campground decorations the evening before Thanksgiving Day.

Months in the Making
Preparation for the two-day public on-campus celebration on December 14 and 15 takes months – and includes stringing up countless lights, coordinating a live Christmas pageant, making cookies and cocoa for about 8,000 guests, bringing in animals for the petting zoo, assembling staff for logistics and security, and many other tasks.

“While it is a ton of work, for us it is a labor of love, because each of us have had our lives powerfully changed by Jesus Christ,” Hanson shared. “Our tabernacle building is inscribed, ‘Jesus: The Light of the World’, and every Christmas light we install is meant to echo that message.”

Their Christmas lights are on – viewable by the public from the sidewalks and street – and during those two days from inside the campus as well – from dusk to dawn every evening, through the end of the year. Seasonal music plays from 4:30 until 9 p.m. each evening.

Take a look at what it’s like to be on their ‘Campground at Christmas’ evebt, in our video:

Free Christmas on the Campground event December 14 and 15
Admission is free and the gates open from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on both nights. Families will enjoy strolling around the campus, immersed in the twinkling lights; riding the “train” around the campground, visiting the petting zoo, and sipping hot coco and enjoying cookies.

“The feature of Christmas on the Campground is the Nativity Pageant; it’s put on by 160 people and features a fully-produced soundtrack that accompanies our Story of Christmas,” pageant coordinator Trina Ruiz told East Portland News while looking over the sets and decorations.

The set for their Nativity Pageant is ready for performances during their two-day Christmas on the Campground event.

“Children from as young as two years old – who are those playing the toddler Jesus – up through college-age students participate, along with our staff, and help us present it at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. both nights,” informed Ruiz. “We put on this pageant for the entire community because we want everyone to know that Jesus was born at Christmas, and came to be our Savior.”

The Apostolic Faith Church Campground is located at 5414 SE Duke Street, 97206; the entrance is located near S.E. 56th Avenue. CLICK HERE for more information.

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