3 Wise Men Bring Gifts of Information to Lutherville

In the Old Testament, the three wise men traveled many miles, following the Star of Bethlehem to bring gold, frankincense and myrrh to baby Jesus.

In Lutherville, the Three Wise Men have been traveling just a few blocks around the , camping in the front yards of church members who will house them.

Instead of presents, they're bringing with them the gift of information—the three special Christmas Eve church services taking place at

"The three life-size wooden Wise Men are moving from lawn to lawn of members of St Paul's. They usually stay for 2-3 days and are moved to another member's house," wrote Jim Brown, a Lutherville resident and St. Paul's church member.

"They will eventually make the journey to the church on Christmas to join the manger scene that is set up on the Kurtz Avenue side of the church. They began their journey on the first Sunday of Advent," he continued.

(Editor's Note: You can post your own photos of the Wise Men just by clicking the link at the top of this page!)

The tradition of the moving Magi started four years ago as a way of reaching out to the community around Christmas time. In previous years, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar (the Three Kings) would stay for up to a week at someone's home. Not this Christmas.

The Wise Men have been moving more swiftly this year from lawn to lawn of the 17 church members who signed up to host them. Hey, at least it's not miles of desert.

"The Wise Men are part of a 40-year-old tradition of setting up the manger scene with life-size figures that were originally hand made by several church members," Brown wrote in an email.

Pastor Mark Huffman originally thought of the idea as a unique way to bring the community together at Christmas.

The three special Christmas Eve services to be conducted at St. Paul's are:

* Traditional Worship Service with Holy Communion at 3 p.m.
 
* A Christmas Carol sing-a-long and special music at 6:30 p.m. in Spangler Hall will be followed by a 7 p.m. Contemporary Christmas Eve Worship with Holy Communion.
 
*Special Pre-Service Christmas Music at 10:15 p.m. followed by a 10:30 p.m. Traditional Candlelight Worship with Holy Communion and Christmas Choir.