Published on November 22nd, 2021 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

Demetria McKinney and Chaz Lamar Shepherd Star in Kirk Franklin’s ‘A Gospel Christmas’

Lifetime’s next original holiday film, Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas, airs Sat. December 4^th at 8/7c starring Demetria McKinney and Chaz Lamar Shepherd.

About Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas

When Olivia (Demetria McKinney), a young assistant pastor, gets assigned to be a lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, she’s fearful she can’t manage the transition, including getting the choir ready to open the town’s annual Winter Jamboree. Banding together with her new congregation, Olivia discovers a new home for herself, and even finds a little Christmas romance along the way! Featuring a special appearance and songs written and arranged by Kirk Franklin.

Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas is produced by Swirl Films and Big Dreams Entertainment. Executive produced by Kirk Franklin and Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd and produced by Leslie Greif, Eric Tomosunas and Ron Robinson. Erica Sutherlin directs a script by Kourtney Richard.

Meet the stars

Chaz Lamar Shepherd was born is a Philadelphia native. He is an actor, known for Set It Off (1996), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Luke Cage (2016).

Demetria McKinney is best known as Janine from Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. In 2017, she was cast opposite Mario Van Peebles in the Syfy horror drama Superstition. In 2017, McKinney starred in the TV One movie Bobbi Kristina as Whitney Houston, the late icon and mother to Bobbi Kristina. She currently stars in the Freeform drama series Motherland: Fort Salem. She was a guest star during the seventh and eighth seasons of The Real Housewives of Atlanta airing on Bravo TV. In 2017, McKinney released her debut album Officially Yours. She received nomination for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist. From this album, she released three singles: “Is This Love”, “Happy” and “Easy” that peaked at #4 at the Adult R&B Songs.

Featured image courtesy Lifetime

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Tags: A Gospel Christmas, Chaz Lamar, Demetria McKinney, kirk franklin

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.