Clayton Petersen refused to let St. John’s Lutheran Church’s Nativity-scene characters be without shelter, so he built them a stable.

Petersen built a Nativity-scene stable for his church, in September. The church already had a handful of the Nativity characters, but they were missing the stable.

“It’s there for the community, and I hope a lot of people drive by and look at it, realize why it’s there,” Petersen said.

The stable is about four-feet deep, 10-feet long and about 7 1/2-feet tall, and is crafted to come apart in 12 pieces for storage, which was part of the challenge of building it. There are about 13 characters in the stable, with a light-up star on the top and lights to make it visible when it gets dark.

“It was built so that we could put a drop cord in there and plug the lights in,” Petersen said.

Petersen said he built the stable at a friend’s request and was happy to use his hobby to bless the church.

“The Lord gave me a little talent, and I like to share it,” he said.

Although Petersen is in his mid-80s, he hasn’t let that slow him down too much. Instead of trying to finish the project quickly, he simply started early and worked on it little by little.

“I worked on it off and on for two or three weeks,” he said. “I started a little early so there wasn’t any rush.”

The set was built in his garage, and he finished it in early October. His wife, Ellen, helped with the project, as well.

“I can’t take any credit for the paint job, my wife painted it, or stained it, actually,” Petersen said.

The nativity scene will sit outside at the front of the church through Christmas.