It was the three-year-olds on stage that impressed me. Not with their cuteness, though that seemed to be what most adults were focusing on. It was their poise.

I didn’t pay much attention to the song, “Away in a Manger,” I think. They weren’t singing; that was the older children’s job (further back on the stage). The little ones, dressed as angels (or at least our concept of angels, which really doesn’t match the Biblical description) were doing actions to accompany the words that were being sung.

As I watched them I thought about how un-self-conscious they were standing on stage in front of 500 people. Admittedly, not all of them were as focused as the director would have liked, but those were only a bit distracted, not suffering from stage fright.

As I watched I reflected on the importance of Christmas pageants for later development in life. In my youth I was in a few of them. I don’t remember ever playing a star, but I worked my way through the minor roles: angel chorus, shepherd and wise man, from non-speaking to speaking parts. I don’t ever remember playing Joseph, though I probably did, nor do I remember ever portraying a sheep – my Sunday School didn’t have enough children to need to flesh out the play with animal roles.

The annual Christmas pageant, as well as children’s choirs, gave us all confidence on stage. Even the shyest of us could handle the roles. After all, you started small and by the time you got a speaking part you had been in a few pageants. You had already been on stage before a hundred people or so (more if your family attended a larger church). You knew there was nothing to fear from an audience, because an audience was just family and friends, people you already knew who wanted you to do well. For many people the Christmas pageant is the first step to a career in the arts. The church can be a very nurturing place (well, up to a point, as long as you don’t want to be too avant-garde – then you may have problems as church people frequently don’t get cutting edge, it makes them afraid for some reason).

I have never watched the television show American Idol or any of its imitators, but I have read about it, and its winning contestants. As I remember it, it seemed like for the first few seasons the winners were all people who had gotten their start performing in church. Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, CarrieUnderwood and Jordin Sparks, four of the first six American Idol winners, got their start singing in church. Probably others since, I really haven’t followed the show. Numerous other contestants have had church backgrounds and gone on to professional careers, including Chris Daughtrey and Phil Stacey Those singers might or might not call themselves Christians, but there was no doubt where they had learned to perform.

All that flashed through my mind as the three-year-olds were on stage during “Away in a Manger.” It may have been their first time on stage, but I am sure it won’t be the last for any of them. And maybe, just maybe, on that Sunday morning a star was born.