In more rural areas of America, people are more dependent on cars. Public transportation is scarce or non-existent, so a car is a lifeline. Many churches want to meet people where they are and hold drive-thru celebrations throughout the year.
Many churches are set up so the church sits in the middle of a large parking lot. The lot then forms a U around it. Different scenes are enacted by congregation members. The public drives in one side of the lot and views scenes in order before exiting the other side of the lot.
Between Good Friday — the day Jesus was crucified — and Easter — the day he was resurrected from the tomb — some churches will do drive-thru Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross are a series of scenes about Jesus from being sentenced to death to being laid in a tomb. Typically, these would be visualized as reliefs or paintings where people can walk from station to station while reflecting and praying. Live scenes have people ripping off Jesus’ clothes or stabbing him while on the cross.
For Christmas-time, churches will do nativity scenes, often with live animals.
