For the first time ever and to commemorate its 30th annual staging, Bethlehem Marketplace will be presented on two weekends, December 3-4 and December 10-11, from 1:00-5:00PM in the Family Life Center at Southeast Baptist Church in Murfreesboro.
Marketplace is a walk-through drama re-enacting how the village of Bethlehem might have
appeared the morning after the birth of Jesus. Its atmosphere and surroundings are those of 2000
years ago. It features characters in historically-accurate costumes such as Roman soldiers,
prisoners, tentmakers, weavers, carpenters, merchants in shops, census-takers, and more. Talk
among the Marketplace characters is from that long-ago time. Live camels and other animals lend
authenticity to the re-enactment, and twentieth-century items do not appear.
Attendance has averaged about 6,000 in recent years with visitors from Kentucky, Alabama,
Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and throughout Tennessee. Many people who trod the
sawdust-lined streets of the village are repeat visitors.
The drama is put on entirely by approximately 300 church members. There is no admission, no
donation accepted, and nothing actually is for sale. Tour time averages about one hour, even at
times of peak crowds.
“It is our desire that every person experiencing Bethlehem Marketplace will be drawn closer to our
Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ”, says Southeast Baptist pastor Joe Vinson.
Southeast Baptist is located at 708 Minerva Drive in Murfreesboro. For more information, please
contact the church at bmp@sebaptist.org or call (615) 896-0940. For updates please visit us on
Facebook – www.facebook.com/BethlehemMarketplace. Photos and promotional video are
available upon request. Pastor Vinson is available for any interviews and invites all media to visit
the church during the Marketplace setup and the actual event.
