Community Corner
Saddleback Church Tree Lights Up Night
Families turn out to celebrate Saddleback Church's first tree lighting ceremony.
Since Rick Scott was deployed to Iraq, spending holidays with his family is no longer a given. This holiday season, however, Rick and his wife, Lyndsay, along with their two sons, took advantage of a chance to mark the coming of Christmas together in Lake Forest.
The Scott family, of Aliso Viejo, was among the crowds at ’s first annual tree lighting ceremony Saturday. The gathering convened on the Worship Center patio, where families drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, listened to carols and a special reading of the Christmas story.
“It’s nice to have all four of us together to celebrate,” said Lyndsay Scott, with a smile. “This is the first year [our two-year-old son Behr] understands everything, and it gives us a chance to explain everything to him.”
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Through the briskness of the night air flowed a faint waft of hot chocolate and coffee. As the tree lighting approached, blankets were unfolded, kids were bundled in jackets and sweatshirts, and everyone took their seat as the ceremony was about to begin.
Pastor Rick Warren cranked the lever that lit Saddleback's first Christmas tree, which stands about 45 feet tall. The tree, topped with a glowing star, reached past the roof of Saddleback’s Worship Center.
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To get the tree Christmas-worthy took close to twenty hours of preparation, including the addition of more than a thousand feet of light strands, said Jim Dobbs, event organizer.
"We always try to make a big church feel small,” he said. “There’s not too many tree lighting events [taking place] around this community, and we really wanted to focus on loving the community. It’s something that can be built on.”
Attendees cheered as the thousands of lights on the tall Christmas tree lit the night. Travis Ryan and Dominik Michalzik accompanied the church's first tree lighting event with acoustic guitar melodies.
Michalzik said he enjoyed the chance to take some time to think about Christmas, he said on Saturday. It’s something that he likes to try and fit in every holiday season.
“It’s a cool community event, and everyone can celebrate Christmas together,” he said.
