The Riley Christmas Village

As the first week of December draws to a close, Christmas is in the air, especially for a local Warner Robins family who has worked for the past 12 years setting up a special Christmas village to display to the public through their great living room window. 

Clarence Riley is the man with the village plan. During the entire month of December, two rooms in the Riley home are entirely taken up with Christmas decorations. The dining room houses a “camper themed” Christmas, and the formal living room hosts a fantastic display of a Christmas village. Clarence personally built the tables upon which the decorations rest. Due to the intricate details of the display and running the wires under the tables from the automated decor and lights, it generally takes up to five days for the Rileys to put it together.

“It started out with just one piece of wood [in the window],” says Riley. Several levels of the village await onlookers as they peer through the window at the sight. “I’d say it’s been taking up the whole living room for the past two or three years.”

Riley takes pride in the process of creating the Christmas village. Great care is taken to ensure that the family is able to spark a little joy for the community as people pass by their home. He’s always looking at how to make the decorations better, to reach more people. “I probably come out here every night and just kind of stand here and look at it a little while and just really enjoy it,” Riley admitted. “I just think the whole thing is fun to look at.”

Another bonus for the Rileys is when families stop and bring their children up to the windows to get a closer view. “That was the real appetence for this,” Riley began. “When I was a kid, we never did anything like this. I had seen some, and I said, ‘You know, I’d really like to do that so that the children can walk by and see it.’” 

The Rileys’ favorite decoration is that of the “kneeling Santa” where Santa is either holding a Baby Jesus or looking down at Him in the manger. “We’re always looking [for those] and would love to find some more,” Riley pointed out longingly.

By spreading joy with the dazzling decorations and sparkling lights that draw families together, Riley uses these opportunities to spread the gospel and his belief of the true meaning of Christmas. Being a preacher, he enjoys telling others about the love of God and the birth of Christ. He links the magic of Santa with the joy of the Savior in a way that he believes is relatable with the children.

“When I do this, and kids see and believe in Santa, I like to basically try to be able to segue into it,” he explains. Riley feels that many people feel that Santa has no place in religion, and though he agrees that the jolly old man is not biblical, many children can learn a valuable lesson in believing. “If children come to believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy, they come to believe without seeing. And then when they see the different Santas, they start to attach that to what they think is a real person. And then if we start showing them Santa and Christ together, then they begin to believe in the Baby Jesus.” He further explained, “Later on, when they come to reason and they realize Santa doesn’t exist, they can keep on believing in Jesus and their faith and their trust and their ‘sight unseen.’” 

Riley continued to point out his belief of the importance for children to learn to believe. “As you begin to introduce Jesus in the picture with them, and explain how Jesus was born and what His life was like and that He is God, it all begins to get to the point of concrete reasoning in their life where they start putting reasoning into practice. They start learning Santa isn’t real, but Jesus is real. We still have the Bible, we still have God’s teachings and His Word to tell us how He’s real. Churches don’t go away, and they can understand the difference between what’s real and fantasy. I’ve never seen conflict or felt that there was anything negative about Santa Claus. I always thought that he was a good vehicle to [help] spawn belief.”

Though creating a Christmas village and spreading the gospel has been a joy that the Rileys will forever cherish, the family has no intentions of expanding the decorations. Riley mentioned that some items may be added, but they will keep the magical display in the designated areas.  Riley plans on retiring in five years and taking life on the road with his beloved wife in their camper. From there, he will hope to continue to speak God’s Word at various campgrounds they reside in month to month.

The Rileys would love to have community members to take part in the magical sight. The Riley Christmas village can be found at 200 Ridgeland Dr. in Warner Robins.

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