15th Anniversary of SACC LCT
December Rose 2001—The Making of the Living Christmas Tree

Video Production and Narration by Greg Gerlach

When the former Southern Acres Christian Church Living Christmas Tree Choir as well as all the kids’ choirs, together with the SACC Drama Ministry presented “December Rose” in 2001, the end result was well worth the many hours and effort our church volunteers put into making it happen. All the music was fantastic, the performances by our actors were authentic and captivating, the stage set and props were incredible, and the entire tech crew did an excellent job. The video of the making of the Living Christmas Tree shows how we did it from start to finish!

I wrote the playscript for the drama, keeping in mind the themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, hope and discovering the love of Christ, all of which are blessings we celebrate at Christmas with the birth of God’s Son, Jesus. As the drama unfolded on the stage, the audience experienced the deep hurt and feeling of hopelessness conveyed by our actor Trevor Dixon’s stellar performance as young Josh Sanders. The adult counterpart to young Josh was presented by Fran Anderson, whose narration of the story also drew the audience into Josh’s emotional experience. Josh’s parents, portrayed by Nancy Dreher and John Fischer as Christine and Eddie Sanders, added a remarkably convincing layer of conflict to the unfolding story. Kat Koch as the mysterious flower lady who befriends Josh, delivered a believable and persuasive performance, giving the audience pause to feel and think deeply about faith, hope and the true meaning of Christmas.

Other supporting actors gave top-notch performances as well. We had John Carey as Uncle Tom Sanders, Keni Parks as Aunt Melanie Sanders, Evan Jacoby as cousin Tommy Sanders, and identical twins Savannah and Scarlett Nicholson sharing the role of cousin Clarissa. And we had one brief but hilarious appearance by Linda Edin as the ill-natured, ever-complaining kids’ choir assistant, Alexis.

This play formed the basis for my Christmas novella of the same title. I published December Rose in 2025. The novella begins two years prior to the story in the play as twelve-year-old Josh Sanders shares his story in the first person. Josh explains what his family experienced during and after the illness and death of his older brother—the gradual emotional withdrawal of his dad from the family and Josh’s trauma from the pain of rejection. My novella is dedicated to all the wonderful people who brought the characters to life on stage and to everyone who helped make it happen.

I hope you enjoy watching The Making of the Living Christmas Tree!