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