Missing: Baby Jesus. Last seen: In a pile of rubble outside a church

The Rev. Keith Mozingo is struggling to keep up his yuletide spirits after the baby Jesus that topped his politically charged Nativity scene in Los Feliz was stolen.

Mozingo, who preaches at Founders Metropolitan Community Church on Prospect Avenue, had set up the display outside the church featuring statues of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph perched atop a pile of rubble. Bearing a sign that read “Palestine Israel Ukraine Sudan,” the scene was designed to remind parishioners and passersby of the wars going on in the world.

But a few days ago, Mozingo realized his Jesus had been pilfered.

Figures of Mary and Joseph are chained up to prevent them from being stolen as well.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

“Y’all pray... Jesus got kidnapped,” Mozingo posted on Facebook, Eastsider L.A. first reported.

While the prayers have not yet been answered with a returned baby Jesus, even Mozingo recognized the humor in the situation.

After a neighbor reported that the baby statue had been seen near the church, the pastor went door to door to tell neighbors that Jesus was still missing.

“My first reaction was, he wasn’t even out there 24 hours before he was taken. They had to climb in the rubble to get him and there was rubble on top of him… I was really aggravated,” Mozingo said in an interview.

The motive behind the theft is not clear, but Mozingo is known for using Nativity scenes to make a pointed comment about current affairs.

In 2019, he placed the Holy Family in cages, portraying Jesus, Mary and Joseph as detained immigrants to protest treatment of migrants at the southern border.

“People say, ‘You’re just making a political statement, keep politics out of church,’” Mozingo said. “But this is not a political statement. It’s a humanitarian voice.”

Another year, Mozingo said, Jesus was represented by a 2-liter Coke bottle wrapped in swaddling clothes, while Mary was a drag queen and Joseph was a trans man.

The Nativity scene, missing its baby Jesus figure.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Mozingo, while waiting for the return of the baby, ordered a new Jesus on EBay.

And thankfully, it arrived before Christmas. But to avoid it being stolen a second time, Mozingo plans to secure Jesus to the rubble.

“I will chain the new Jesus down,” he said. “There is humor in it.”