Rome, the saying goes, wasn't built in a day. Bethlehem, on the other hand, the Jewish village given in the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, has one-day potential. Provo resident Renae Bushman, 57, said that there's some preparation time involved, but that the process -- with help from a couple of friends -- of actually setting up the 1,000-plus pieces in her Bethlehem nativity scene, takes one rather long, very full day.

"It takes from about 8 in the morning until about midnight," Bushman said. "We don't take a break, except maybe to get something to eat."

That's the kind of passion that drives the members of Friends of the Creche, a national nonprofit, non-denominational group headquartered in Michigan that will be holding its biannual convention in Salt Lake City next week. A creche, also called a nativity or manger scene, is a set of figurines created to depict the scene of Jesus's birth in a stable in Bethlehem connected to a famously filled-to-capacity roadside inn.

According to tradition, the first creche -- from the French word for "manger" -- was created by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. "He was walking back to his village at night and he saw some of the village animals on a hillside beneath the stars," said Holly Zenger, a Midway resident and co-chairman of the Salt Lake City convention, which is being billed "Follow His Star."

St. Francis gathered the villagers together with their animals to create a "live" nativity scene, and the idea spread from there. Zenger said that wealthy Christians in the Italian city of Naples popularized the concept, and that once large churches and the well-to-do had begun to celebrate the birth of Christ with special scenes, people of lesser means began to handcraft their own homages.

"Follow His Star" is an opportunity for Friends of the Creche members to celebrate creches and their history, and to share their passion with the general public. Though many events during the convention are for members only, the convention is open to the public free of charge from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Visitors can inspect a large number of creches from all different corners of the globe first hand, as well as view nativity artwork done by Utah high school students and shop from creche vendors.

From Italy with love

Many families have a favorite manger scene that comes out of storage each year with their Christmas decorations. Bushman, a registered nurse at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, said that, aside from her very large collection of pieces created by Italy's House of Fontanini, she only has "maybe 20" other creches. "I'm not like the big collectors," she said.

(House of Fontanini has been creating collectibles figurines, including for creches, since 1908. Its pieces are available from a variety of retail outlets.)

Well, maybe except for the Fontanini scene, which will be displayed during the convention at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown. Fontanini releases new pieces every year, and retires others from circulation. So whether your interest is in old pieces or new ones, there's plenty to keep you occupied. Individual pieces can cost anywhere from $7 to $30, though Bushman doesn't only buy them.

Sometimes, she said, she adds to her Fontanini collection by making pieces with supplies from local craft stores. In particular, she enjoys making trees and animals.

In addition to the standard pieces -- Mary and Joseph, baby Jesus, three kings, shepherds, etc. -- the Fontanini pieces replicate buildings and townspeople that might have existed in Bethlehem at the time of Christ. Recently, Bushman said, she added "Isaac," the son of the town baker, who delivers bread to the other townspeople.

Each piece comes with a story to give it context, and the pieces are made from a durable polymer. "It looks fragile, the individual piece," Bushman said. At least with the smaller ones, however, "you could pick them up and throw them across the room and not break them." That's perfect for Bushman, whose five children and six grandchildren have enjoyed the set over the years.

Zenger said that Friends of the Creche, which is affiliated with a large contingent of chapters in Europe and other parts of the world, simply wants to spread awareness of a touching and colorful means of honoring the birth of Jesus. The multi-nationality of creche collecting is part of the fun.

"I've seen one from Alaska in which the wise men have gifts of Chinook salmon and whale blubber," Zenger said. "The baby Jesus is on a dogsled. The pieces are carved from walrus tusks."

Most important creche

Utah painter Brian Kershisnik said that the variety of creches and other artworks that depict the birth of Christ shows how deeply the shared celebration of that event affects people across many different cultures. Everything that Christ's coming to Earth represents to the Christian world, he said, is signified by the moment of his birth.

"It all depended on Jesus coming here, on the impossibility of that condescension," Kershisnik said. What's captured in depictions of the nativity, he said, is the moment of Jesus's abasing himself to share in the human condition: "This is our dirt and our sweat and our blood and our milk."

Kershisnik, 47, is one of several scheduled speakers at "Follow the Star," where he will discuss his painting "Nativity," completed in 2006, which depicts Joseph and Mary, with baby Jesus, at the center of a vast stream of angelic observers. The original painting is 17 feet long and includes more than 150 individual figures.

Kershisnik, who lives in the central Utah town of Kanosh,painted "Nativity" while he was guest teaching for a semester at Brigham Young University. "I wanted my students to be ambitious," he said, "so I thought that I should be ambitious, too. I stretched a canvas that was as big as I could fit on any of the walls."

Zenger said that she thinks the nativity resonates with people so much because of the purity of the infant Christ, and also because of the way that the nativity transcended human social divisions. "There's the elegance of the three kings," she said, "contrasted with the lowly shepherds." People respond, Zenger said, to the way that the divine birth brought together individuals who might never have interacted in any other setting.

Zenger, who has collected creches for 25 years and has hundreds of them in her personal collection, said that people often ask her which is her favorite. "It's the creche that I bought at Grand Central a long, long time ago," she said, referring to a formerly Utah-based chain of discount department stores. "The one that my children grew up with."

Personal connection, it would seem, is the key. "Whether it's a creche made out of popsicle sticks or walrus ivory," she said, the most important creche "is the creche that speaks to you."

If you go

Follow His Star -- Friends of the Creche 5th National Convention

When: Events Wednesday through Nov. 15; open to the public from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Nov. 14

Where: Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown, 215 W. South Temple St., Salt Lake City

Cost: Free

Info: www.friendsofthecreche.org/events.html, or send e-mail to fotc2009ut@gmail.com