A new production from Odyssey Networks focuses on the power of community during the Christmas season.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a partner of Odyssey Networks. CBS will air the one-hour program, without commercials, starting at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on Christmas Eve.
“One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit” brings viewers to Reading, Penn., once one of America’s bustling industrial centers. Having lost factories, jobs and population, the city has been on a downward spiral for decades.
But Reading has never lost hope and an abiding belief in the power of community.
“One Christmas Story” focuses on Hope Lutheran Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Hope Church, a beacon in Reading’s poorest neighborhood, brings together a diverse congregation on Christmas Eve to listen to local choirs and hear the story of Christ’s birth. Woven through the music and the readings are the stories of Reading citizens today — stories that illustrate the messages of the Gospel: sharing with neighbors, valuing the spiritual over the material, and welcoming the stranger.
Also featured in this Christmas special will be a gathering, hosted by the Salvation Army, for Reading citizens — both the needy and those who are reaching out to help with a warm welcome, shelter, food and holiday gifts.
Viewers will be struck by the parallels between this gathering and the time-honored images from the Christmas story itself — the weary travelers Mary and Joseph finding shelter; the Three Kings bringing gifts to the infant Jesus; the humble shepherds being honored by heavenly messengers’ and Bethlehem, a downtrodden town in Judea, becoming the birthplace of the long-awaited Messiah.
To watch a trailer, click here.
Information for this story furnished by Odyssey Networks.