The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints treated onlookers at New York City’s Times Square with a Nativity display across its billboards.
The event occurred on November 27 as the LDS launched its annual Light the World initiative.
“As we start hoping there will be greater light in the world, we invite all to light the world,” Area Seventy Elder David Buckner told Church Newsroom. “Today, we start that as a process of hope, promise, and joy that the world so desperately needs.”
According to LDS Living, nine national and global nonprofit representatives were present at the Times Square Unveiling and are participating in the Light of the World campaign.
“We’re thrilled to be in partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” said Michael J. Nyenhuis, president and CEO of UNICEF USA. “We think this is one of the really brilliant things that’s happening during the Christmas season. At a time of such division in our country and the world, this effort is really pulling people together.”
About twenty-seven digital displays lit up all across Times Square with dark blue starry scenes from the Nativity, an invitation to let your light shine, and a call to remember Jesus Christ this Christmas season, which included John 8:12, where Jesus says, “ I am the light of the world.”
“Times Square is perhaps the brightest place on the face of the earth,” Monsignor Kevin Sullivan of Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New York told Church Newsroom. “Lighting the world is needed now more than ever. Catholic Charities is proud to partner with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other organizations who are bringing light to what is a very dark world.”
In addition to the Nativity scene, the LDS introduced “Giving Machines” as part of its campaigns. The machines will also be available in 60 other cities worldwide, more than double in the past year with 28 cities.
Meanwhile, the Times Square Giving Machines were relocated to their permanent holiday location in front of The Church of Our Saviour at 59 Park Ave.
Video Courtesy: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
