Experience the wonder and joy of a Living Christmas Tree

Picture a church altar, complete with organ, transformed by wooden set pieces and decorations to resemble a living 70-foot Christmas tree. Then, imagine filling that structure with 60 or 70 people, ranging in age from 2-1/2 to 89. Give them music to sing from within the tree, and you have the Living Christmas Tree — a staple of the holiday season in Lindsay, Ontario.

It was the brainchild of long-time organist Bob Tompkins and his wife Mary-Lou back in 1982. They wanted to have their church choir’s Christmas cantata — a common seasonal offering in churches — performed for a broader audience, to help bring the Christmas message to more people. Now, 33 years later, the Living Christmas Tree has grown and blossomed.

“It’s the Christmas message, delivered in a very unthreatening, very welcoming way, through very accessible language,” says one of this year’s organizers, Dyan Wallace.

She’s also the “children-and-youth tree-choir” leader, responsible for the littlest singers, and working hand-in-hand with musical directors Joye Daniels and Sally Rogers who took over for Tompkins in 2004.

Over the years, the Living Christmas Tree has been performed at the beginning of the Christian Advent season, a time when many are readying themselves for the busy holiday season. Audience members — on average numbering 535 for each of six performances — experience the Christian story, from the birth of Jesus through the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

All of this is told within about an hour-long performance through narration and song which emanates from within the Living Christmas Tree, and is amplified by creative use of lighting and staging.

As the voices and music take flight, the refrains hang in the air, coming from within the boughs of the tree. The magic of the performance is not lost on Wallace, even though she’s been a part of the production for 15 years.

“We hear a lot every year that this event is a chance for people to centre themselves and to get ready for the season,” Wallace says.

Planning begins in June and practices begin in September. There is no shortage of hard work that makes this magical tree grow.

Wallace laughs. She says she knows the challenge of motivating 2-1/2 year olds to sing in tune!

“It doesn’t really matter if they sing in tune or not,” she says. “People seem to love the little ones every year, no matter what.”

The youth tree-choir is also her responsibility. Those children, from Grades 4 through 8, fill the peak of the tree — singing from a perch about 60 feet above the audience.

There are also 40-or-so volunteers who help with ushering, lighting, safety, and other duties. And then there are the 60-or-so adults who fill the tree, some from as far as Whitby, who travel to weekly rehearsals just to be a part of it.

Yet motivating the singers is the least of the challenges, Wallace says.

“There are people who travel from Whitby to sing in this production, families who participate, generations — up to three — of families who participate,” Wallace beams. “For people who participate, there’s so much fellowship they experience, so many generations participating.”

There’s also the challenge of finding appropriate music and staging. The cantata is chosen carefully each year to reflect a sacred theme rather than a secular one.

“We have a music supplier from the United States, but it’s more and more difficult to find something each year that sticks to the Christmas story rather than the ribbons and bows,” she says.

This is only one of many challenges through the years, Wallace says. One of the biggest was in 1986 when the local fire chief threatened to shut down the event due to the fire hazard of using real green boughs woven through chicken wire. When organizers explained there were busloads of people planning to travel from Toronto, Peterborough, and Barrie, the chief made an exception and extra fire safety measures were put in place.

But that year was the last for the real boughs; now they are specially created boughs made to look real.

What remains real, Wallace says, is the spirit the performers and organizers bring to the tree.

“What I can say is that the Living Christmas Tree has made my faith stronger,” she explains. “It’s given me a way to share it. While I’m not one to go out there and speak about my faith, I will sing it.”

This year’s performance breaks from tradition because it brings some southern gospel and country sounds to the tree. And there’s a new Saturday matinee performance each week.

“People are going to be happily surprised this year,” Wallace teases, adding that audience members should keep their eyes on the star at the top of the tree. “Something magical happens to that star.”

All photos courtesy of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church