By Dwight Otwell
Contributing Writer
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The Singing Christmas Tree will present its 43rd consecutive annual production this year with three performances scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Dec. 14-16, at Murphy First Baptist Church.
Murphy – This year will be the 43rd consecutive year featuring the Singing Christmas Tree.
The Christmas tree is more than 25 feet high,
with a star pointed toward the highest part of the sanctuary at Murphy First Baptist Church, 517 Hiawassee St. The tree is green with red ribbons, speckled with hundreds of small, white lights that appear to be tiny stars.
The best part is that planted in the tree, like Christmas ornaments, are people of all ages who sing about the glory of Jesus Christ coming to Earth as a human to save everyone who will commit to him.
Music director Carol Moss said singers will be accompanied by live music. That will include piano, organ, flutes and bells. Pageantry and drama will be incorporated into the program, “Prepare Him Room.” Singers from various churches join in the production. Youth and children are part of the program.
The unique program will include old standards as well as contemporary Christmas carols.
Murphy First Baptist pastor Jimmy Tanner is involved in his sixth Singing Christmas Tree.
“Most important to me is that we are showing our love to the community,” he said. “This has become a tradition. Many people and families come back every year, even planning fall or winter vacations around it. It is a way for the community to come together
and celebrate the birth of Jesus.”
Brenda Meador, church organist and pianist, sang in the first singing tree when she was a senior at Murphy High School. She was in the first row because she also played handbells.
Meador said the tree is a great ministry for the community and it draws people to church who don’t normally attend church.
Many remember the first tree as a wooden structure that held a lot of people, but some worried about the stress to the wooden platforms with all the singers aboard. Some said they could at times feel the tree swaying. The present tree is a safer metal.
There will be three performances of the tree:
- 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14;
- 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15;
- 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16.
All presentations of the Singing Christmas Tree are free, and the public is invited.
Tanner said the presentation is “our way of saying ‘merry Christmas’ to the community. It is our gift to the community.”