That's the program's name, by the way, and not merely a comment on its timing.
Taping wrapped up just a few weeks ago in Branson, Mo., for the special, which will be "fed" by one of the major broadcast-television networks to its affiliates nationwide for broadcasting anytime between Dec. 17 and 31. Although the name of the network cannot yet be revealed, next month's REPORTER will make that announcement and explain how members of LCMS congregations can help get the program on the air in their local markets.
"A program such as this will help many people's Christmas be more Christ-centered," said Rev. Jim Rassbach, director of Synod relations with the Synod's Board for Communication Services (BCS).
The TV special -- a "show-within-a-show" that's part comedy, part drama, part musical-variety -- is produced by the BCS. It features the "Grandpa Jim" character portrayed by musician-songwriter Rev. James Likens in the "Story Tunes with Grandpa Jim" segments broadcast over the LCMS Satellite Service.
Likens, an LCMS pastor and a former producer-director with the BCS, wrote the script and 10 of the 12 songs featured in the Christmas program.
He also directs and performs in the show, along with fellow LCMS cast members Dr. Karl Barth, former director of the Synod's 150th Anniversary Celebration and president emeritus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; Rev. Tom Evans, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Mound, Minn.; and children from Synod congregations in the Branson-Springfield and St. Louis areas.
Musical guests include singer Barbara Fairchild, whose theater on Branson's popular "strip" was used in the taping; 6-year-old Branson entertainer Matthew Matney; St. Louis Gospel singer Wayne Henderson; a St. Louis Christian rock band, Jordan's Creed; and a children's choir made up of members from Christ Memorial and Grace Chapel, two LCMS congregations in St. Louis.
The program's message -- making Christ the focus of Christmas -- is built around a fictional account of a children's Christmas pageant that faces an unexpected glitch but ends happily. The show features mostly Lutherans -- members of LCMS congregations in the Branson- Springfield and St. Louis areas -- and a musical score that runs the gamut, from folksy guitar tunes to traditional Christmas hymns. Says Likens: "If we can get one child to realize that the real gift of Christmas was not wrapped in paper and bows but in swaddling clothes, we will have accomplished our goal."