Georgetown removes Nativity Scene from town circle

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Georgetown’s leaders are receiving a lot of backlash after they announced that a nativity scene will not be allowed in the town’s circle this year.

The scene has been on display in the circle for years, but the town says it won’t be allowed now under one certain policy.

“Jesus is Christmas, that’s what Christmas is all about, you take Jesus away you don’t have Christmas, there is no Christmas,” one town resident, Bo Shockley, said.

And that’s how some residents feel after the town decided to ditch the Nativity Scene in the town’s circle – that Christmas is gone.

“The nativity scene, it should be on the circle, that’s where it belongs,” Shockley said.

Town officials released a statement on Wednesday saying that the decision to remove the scene falls under the Circle Use Policy.

The town wrote in part, “It should be made clear that this prohibition is not specific to religious or holiday displays but, as stated in the policy, applies to any and all standing, unattended, private displays.”

But that’s a rationale that some community members say they aren’t buying.

“There’s a lot of different objects that are up there that are unattended, you go down to a nativity scene and that’s not OK, but everything else is OK? You know, it’s not right,” Shockley said.

Other community members sounded off on Facebook, writing “I believe the excuse for removing it is not genuine. I think the town is simply trying to follow suit with what’s popular right now.”

It’s a decision that Shockley says makes him disappointed in his hometown.

“I am disappointed, I’m disappointed because I would like them to make a stand and say you know what we’re gonna stand up for Christianity, because that’s what Christmas is about the nativity scene,” he said.

In the town’s statement, officials said that the nativity scene was always placed there by a private church, Georgetown Wesleyan Church, not by the town.

Many people took to Facebook to compare the town’s decision to what happened in Rehoboth Beach in 2018, after the resort town also had a private church remove a Nativity Scene from the bandstand.

You can read the the town of Georgetown’s entire statement here.