By Daniel Winningham
Trees. Nativities. Angels. That and much more were a part of the 2021 Christmas Country Church Tour.
More than 30 tours were included in this year’s tour which spanned four counties. Nineteen of the 32 tour stops were located in Perry County.
“The church tour was another great holiday event for the region,” said Trish Erzfeld, director of Perry County Heritage Tourism. “We had many travelers from Missouri, southern Illinois and states such as Kentucky, California and Texas. Some of these out of state visitors are coordinating their visits with the church tour event.”
Bonnie Zerwig was one of those welcoming guests to Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Ste. Genevieve. This is the first year that congregation has been a part of the tour.
“It just means so much to us,” Zerwig said. “We can share the spirit of Christmas and our love for God, (it) puts people in the Christmas mood.”
Zerwig was asked what made the decorations at Holy Cross unique.
“We have angels in the windows made out of hymnals,” she said. “Our altar is the main attraction. It was hand-carved in Italy over 200 years ago.”
The altar features the four Gospel writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — with Jesus in the center, holding up a round sphere, representing the world. The altar carving was at a church in New Orleans, then Lutheran church in Texas and also in Chester before Holy Cross obtained it in the 1950s.
Construction the church building began in 1867, after the property was purchased for $600.
“At that time, that was a big undertaking for this small group of Lutherans because they had been meeting in homes and empty stores,” she said.
Gradually they worked on it, until it was completed in 1875, Zerwig said.
Since the Christ child hasn’t officially arrived, many of the manger scenes have one obvious thing missing: the baby in a manger. Kaskaskia Immaculate Conception Church, the oldest church on the tour, featured a large present where Jesus will eventually be on Christmas Eve.
“Yesterday afternoon and evening we were on other parts of the tour,” said Loren Boettcher of Cape Girardeau. “Today, we’re starting here. “(It’s) very inspiring. Each congregation has their own idea or theme. Some of them (have) color, others have flowers or lights, different things.”
Christ Our Savior Catholic Church in Brewer featured three Christmas trees and two nativities in front. A large crucifix is a fixture behind the altar. The nativities just to the left of the large tree in front just includes Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus while the other nativity, located to the left of a purple Advent banner, includes the holy family as well as shepherds and Magi.
An Advent wreath, created in 2020, is also on display. Catholic tradition doesn’t allow for artificial flowers, said Iva Brewer.
The poinsettias, a total of 25 bouquets, were from a store in Jefferson County because they couldn’t find enough in this area. Similar to other Catholic churches, the stations of the cross are located on the outer walls inside the parish, behind the pews.
Many of the churches included pamphlets or brochures which detailed highlights of the Christmas-themed decorations. For example, the definition from Trinity Lutheran in Altenburg mentions that the Christmas tree “with its pyramid shape and pointing Heaven ward and its evergreen branches is sympbolic of Jesus and Everlasting Life, which he brought us.”
In total, more than 30 symbols that a part of the Christmas decorations at Trinity and are more fully explained. “May these symbols continually remind you of God’s greatest gift to us all!”
