Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 2 : Fall 2010 | Page 41

and others, as needs arise. Jay also directs the church choir every week, but he says that he has a special passion for Christmas and loves to hear so many voices singing together all at once. The Cantatas are different from year to year, but they all require the traditional voice sections and smaller singing groups – duets, trios and quartets - and the logistics church to the rafters and spilling out into the street. From the pews, one can make out the faces of individual choir members among the “branches” of the tree, but they are difficult to see clearly. The intended result is one of unity and wholeness. Everyone who has worked so hard in the intervening months is there for one purpose – to present the to figure out where everyone needs to be placed for the best sound. The lighting involves a number of varied displays of spotlights and colored lights, changing with the songs and even within the same song, helping to focus attention on groups in the chorus and on the drama sets that take place throughout the sanctuary. As the audience assembles in Caribou United Baptist Church one evening in early December and the house lights grow dim, there is a hush while the singers, 40 or 50 of them, enter the sanctuary from a door to the side, treading carefully and quietly up the steps and across the staging to take their positions on The Living Christmas Tree. When everyone is in place, the singing begins. The tree lights are brought up, one row at a time, starting at the bottom of the tree, and ending with a brightly glowing star at the top. The effect is stunning. The church becomes infused with warmth and light against the background of a dark December night, with the beautiful sound of harmonious singing filling the Gospel wrapped in a gift of glorious music. The Living Christmas Tree is one outreach mission that the church has decided to forego this year, in order to focus on other initiatives. According to Pastor Kiehn, taking a year off is not unusual. The church has presented The Living Christmas Tree 27 times over the course of 34 years, since the first one in 1975. And as the production involves so much work and commitment on the part of so many in the church, sometimes a rest is a good thing. As Jay Siddiqui observes, they took a break from The Living Christmas Tree three years ago, and quite a few folks were disappointed – but it was with renewed vigor that they performed again the following year, and seemed to be all the more appreciated by the audience. Jay believes that the same feelings will hold true in the coming year. FALL & WINTER 09 Christmas Song 39