Preparation starts in September. Sopranos, altos, tenors and basses get their music and actors take a first look at their scripts. Over the next three months, a performance is pulled together, one that encompasses 78 singers, 12 actors and a slew of stage hands and crew, who pitch in time and effort to build the centerpiece of this production: a Living Christmas Tree.

Tonight, Saturday and Sunday, First Church of Christ in Washington presents its 21^st Living Christmas Tree with a new production, “Under a Starry Sky.” The show is a drama that has humorous moments vying with somber ones, a modern family of the present with the nativity scene of the past, all interspersed with a lineup of songs sung by First Church of Christ’s choir. The public is invited to attend, at no cost — a tradition in the church, according to pastor Steve Hill.

“It’s our gift to the community. We don’t take up an offering. We don’t ask for anything; it’s our gift to the community,” Hill said. “People have tried to give us money at the door — we won’t take it.”

Hill said that past performances have brought between 1,700 to 1,800 people in to see the three shows, and that approximately a fifth of the church’s congregation takes part in the production, an age range that spans from four infants who play the part of the baby Jesus in each separate production to some elderly members of the choir.

“That’s the beauty of this particular ministry, is that people of all ages can take part in it,” Hill said.

The contemporary score puts the spotlight on a few choir members with a duet by Tim Emanuel and Sonya Selby, another by JC Burnette and Kim Moulden and a solo by Moulden, At center stage, the graduated levels of a towering structure, bedecked with 15,000 lights and ribbon and shaped like a Christmas tree, holds the large choir.

Hill said approximately 3,000 man-hours go into the Living Christmas Tree — it takes 35 people just to build and dismantle the choir’s “tree.”

But it’s not the time, effort and hours of practice that draws a crowd, even at the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night — it’s the story itself, of a family recalling the true meaning of Christmas after devastating news.

“It’s basically what has hit so many other people: someone has lost their job right before Christmas,” Hill explained.

It’s a message that First Church of Christ wants to share with the community, Hill said: “It’s our hope that our community will accept our invitation.”

First Church of Christ is located at 520 E. 10^th St., Washington. “Under a Starry Sky” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the church’s Family Life Center each night of its three-day run.