A UCC Christmas Story

By Dustin Jones

UCC Director of Communications

Anyone who drives through Spokane via the interstate on a cold December evening is in for a treat. Just before you descend the hill into Spokane, if you glance to your right, is a very large, colorful, nativity scene. 

You may have noticed this scene on one of your recent drives, but what you may not have known is the story behind the lighted display that has stood on the grounds of Upper Columbia Conference for almost 35 years. 

According to Darin Patzer, general manager of UCC’s radio station, Shine 104.9 FM, the display arrived at UCC through a somewhat surprising turn of events.

“This Christmas Nativity light feature was originally part of a much larger city of Spokane Christmas light display,” says Patzer. “Cars would drive through one of the city-owned golf courses at Christmas time each year to admire it.” 

However, an activist group complained about the annual display and threatened to sue the city if the light display wasn’t removed.

“I think it was due to it being Christian and glorifying Jesus, but located on government property,” adds Patzer.

Because Upper Columbia Conference is located prominently beside Interstate 90, Jere Patzer, president of UCC at the time, had been searching for the perfect lighted display to host on the property. 

“As the city was forced to sell their popular Nativity scene, UCC was able to step in and purchase it,” says Patzer. 

Kathy Marson, UCC prayer ministries coordinator, remembers fondly the first time the display was put up next to the interstate. 

“The whole office staff gathered in the evening, I think it was a Friday night, and had a dedicatory prayer at the display,” says Marson. “It was cold, but many prayed that this display would serve the Lord!”

Each year, as the Nativity scene lights up a small section of Interstate 90, it serves as a reminder of the Christmas story to the thousands of cars that pass by. 

But the story doesn’t quite end there. Because after Jere Patzer served as president of UCC for several years, he became the president of NPUC in 1996. 

“When the potential new North Pacific Union Conference office property was being considered, my husband Jere and I would drive out there on the knoll,” remembers Sue Patzer, director of women’s ministries for NPUC. “He would have his stopwatch. We would sit there, and he would have me help him time the number of cars that passed by the property per minute. Then he’d do the math and find out how many cars in a week, month, year, etc.”

The new NPUC office was finally finished in the fall of 2006 and plans were made to get a nativity set like at the UCC. However, when it was up, it was a disappointment because of its size. Even though it was the same size as the UCC display, the necessary placement of it on the NPUC grounds meant that it had to be further from the freeway. The distance made it look too small as cars drove by. 

“That dilemma was solved by the next year when Montana Conference bought the smaller NPUC one, as they also have frontage on Interstate 90 in Bozeman!” remembers Sue Patzer. 

This allowed NPUC to purchase a larger size that can be seen from their location on Interstate 5.

Archie Harris, UCC interim superintendent of education was serving as superintendent in Montana when it was purchased from the NPUC and has very fond memories of everyone in the Montana office working together to set it up.

“It took the president, the stewardship office, the vice president for finance, the human resources office, the trust services, maintenance, ministerial department, personal ministries, education, youth department, summer camp staff, health department, Pathfinders leadership, and communications directors to get it put up properly,” says Harris.

“But to be clear, that was just four people,” quips Harris.

Though Jere Patzer passed away in 2008, what he started in UCC on 1-90 shines further east in Montana and also on I-5 north of Vancouver. 

“I’m always so grateful for those who work on those displays every year,” adds Sue Patzer. “From the bulbs to replace, the rickety parts that need strengthening, and periodic rewiring, it takes work. Special thanks to all the volunteers who set these up each year, often enduring biting cold, wind, and snow.”

What began as a small light display seen by only a few hundred cars on a golf course, has multiplied into several displays seen by hundreds of thousands of cars annually for the last 35 years. 

“God has a sense of humor,” says Darin Patzer, “and He always gets the final word.”