Collection of nearly 500 different nativity sets on display at Kansas City-area church

MERRIAM, Kan. -- There’s some made of wood and some made of ceramic. There’s some that are handmade, others that have been 3D printed, and there are some from Merriam and some from Africa.

Margi Colerick has been showing off her impressive nativity scene collection for around 20 years.

Her experience with nativity scenes dates back to 1960.

“Mother was a professional artist; she decided that for her church bazaar that she was going to make a nativity,” Colerick told Fox4. “One of the kings is holding a shotgun shell. Because my dad was a duck hunter, and she had it around the house. Just the right size!”

Colerick was a pastor at a church in the Kansas City area.

“What do you get the preacher for Christmas?” she asked “Oh, let’s give her a nativity!’ And about 2004, I realized I had an awful lot of nativities," Colerick said.

She says that now she has 60 tubs full of sculptures and in total, the collection weighs around 1,500 pounds.

“It takes two weeks, several days to put up, then we set up the display then several days to take down, then I’m exhausted," she added.

The nativity scene collection is on display at Merriam Christian Church through Sunday.

“She’s very blessed to have collected all of these lovely and different sets I mean what a variety,” said visitor Karla Lovell.

She has a nativity scene that she’s collected piece by piece over the years, it’s now more than 40 pieces. She says that despite all of the other Christmas decorations in her home, the nativity reminds her of the reason for the season.

“We have a lovely Christmas tree and other things but none of that would be celebrated if it wasn’t for Jesus," she said.

The collection has become somewhat of a labor of love for 78-year-old Colerick, who is selling around a third of her collection this year. Some of the proceeds will go to Merriam Christian Church’s outreach programs. Her daughter Robin is a pastor there.

“They mean something to me, and it means something to me that selling them can help somebody else. I like that. They work with the poor and with Johnson County Christmas Bureau, and they have a food little pantry out in front, and they work with the school systems and two nursing homes here," she said.

Colerick says that she’s hoping the majority of the nativities go to families that will treasure them as much as she has.

“I will be happy if people take them home, that want them. I always say if the nativity winks at you, then it’s for you. And you take it home, and you love it in your own family, and let it become part of the Christmas tradition," Colerick said.

And as the collection shrinks a little, she knows that the handmade scene that her mother made 64 Christmas seasons ago, is bringing joy to so many people.

“I know my mom would be just thrilled to know that so many people have gotten to enjoy the nativity that she made," she said.

The collection and those sets that are for sale are on display at Merriam Christian Church through Sunday.