In the distance, from the belfry of the Rutherford County Courthouse, chimes pierce through the darkness. As a veil of an unseen world is torn apart, the pealing sound covers the earth with a supernatural strength and beauty like frosty fog-glaze covering the landscape. Somehow, the persistent ringing draws us nearer and nearer to a surreal joy. Good news is proclaimed as those pleasant-sounding songs—loud and deep—from our Murfreesboro hamlet swell in harmonious melody. We are stirred as the cold and the wind dilate the sound of muted voices from generations ago: invisible angelic choirs declaring a revelation—that the most real things are unseen.

As adults, we hesitate to receive the good gift of Christmastime. Feelings of guilt creep in as our grown-up world becomes weary, heavy-laden with its burden of care. While the winter cold and darkness hide the light of hope, hardening our hearts, we simply are compelled to move beyond the glitter and glow of it all. So as age and the circumstances of life rob us of our joy, we simply bow our heads and proclaim in despair, “Christmas is just for children!”

Casting an ominous shadow in our subconscious is the mindset that life is about earning and deserving rather than believing and receiving! Perhaps Christmas memories are like a special house we build for ourselves in our minds. And, like a house, we can build, grow and expand our memories beyond our childhood. Vividly, year after year, generation after generation, the joy of these memories blend the old with the new.

It is for this reason that recollections about the significance of the “Singing Christmas Tree” extravaganza at the First Baptist Church on Main Street begin to emerge. As it turned out, the Singing Christmas Tree became the community’s most genuine, heartwarming and uplifting experience, unifying the community in the spirit of Christmastime for over 20 years. Under the gigantic, iconic-seeming tree, dressed with a real choir, hearts were warmed by the songs of Christmas and attendees were awestruck, visually stunned by Murfreesboro’s small-town-spectacular theatrics. Most were seeking, longing to hear the Christmas story once again. Happy smiles and joy filled the sanctuary with the Christmas hymns.

The 1976 Bicentennial Celebration launched many celebrations beginning in February and lasting through the dedication of Cannonsburgh Village in October. The celebrations prompted a series of artistic expressions—festivals and other musical events which included the Singing Christmas Tree in December of 1976 at the First Baptist Church on Main Street.

During this period, our community was experiencing many social, economic and technological changes. Leaders such as Murfreesboro Mayor W. H. Westbrooks and County Executive John Mankin along with the City Council and county commissioners began to institute economic changes that would have an impact upon the community until the present day. The city’s skyline was also changing with multi-storied buildings in the city and on the MTSU campus.

You might say that the period from 1976 and through the late 1990s was the end of small-town Murfreesboro as we knew it. In the 1950s, plans to bring significant industries such as State Farm and General Electric to our community paved the way for other high-caliber industries such as Bridgestone and Nissan in the 1970s and 1980s. The population was exploding, resulting in the need for two new high schools: Oakland and Riverdale. The 1980 census showed Rutherford County’s population at 84,020 and the City of Murfreesboro at 32,857. The results were an ever-expanding city limits into the rural population.

A significant conclusion to the 1976 Bicentennial year was the musical program presented at First Baptist Church in December. This was a labor of love for the entire community. The tree, constructed out of cedar provided by Gene Statta and Jesse Messick, was built by engineer J.E. Snell. The enormous tree stood 75 feet high in the sanctuary of the church. Mrs. Hubert Songer and other ladies made all the stoles for the 78-member choir. The tree was adorned with 1,000 pieces of live garland, 100 ornaments and 500 lights. It was estimated to weigh four tons when choir members were positioned on the tree, where they stood in rows from top to bottom. Each choir member entered the auditorium with lighted candles. The public was invited to attend the climatic performance to the Bicentennial celebration. Ed Anthony served as the organist for the Singing Christmas Tree’s inaugural occurence.

In the years that followed, the entire project, this gift for the community, began in August with a Christmas party. Hours and hours of rehearsal and planning would continue until the December performance.

This labor of love for the entire town, the Singing Christmas Tree, became an emotional experience that spanned more than two decades. In 1979, Jerry Neely, the choir director, began gathering talent, selecting the music and arranging the drama six months prior to the event. Spotlight performances were by Jesse Messick, a local business legend and founder of Uncle Dave Macon Days, along with two charming blondes adorned in ringlets: the Bilbrey twins. In the conversation and interaction with Jesse, the twins, Carol and Vicki, began to stir hearts, making the presentation even more touching. Their dad, Kenneth Bilbrey, was also in the wings with smelling salts just in case it was needed for those positioned atop the tree. In a day before extravagant special effects became the norm, the crowd became mesmerized by the performance as the Christmas story emerged.

The choir was about 75 in number, layers of lighted faces that began singing in soft, emotive tones.

. . . Suddenly, the basses began rumbling: Hallelujah!

Then, echoed by the altos, Hallelujah!

The tenors swelled with robust sounds: Hallelujah!

Finally, thrillingly, as the star atop this massive ensemble became illuminated, the sopranos sang out at full volume, exuberantly: Hallelujah!

The program began as the choir resonated in crescendo, Fall on your knees! giving your goose bumps goose bumps. In that moment the audience merged, heaven and earth became one and, in their midst, the meaning of Christmas shone clearer than a starlit night in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago.

Sometimes what we don’t understand about Christmas is more important than what think we do! By the time we reach adulthood, we simply bring it down to the level of our experience relying on our finite logic and reason to keep the meaning of Christmas at a safe distance. Our hearts simply cannot embrace the things that our heads don’t! So we compromise and lose the wonder and joy of it all. Twinkling lights begin to appear, illuminating our view even before November. Holly and tinsel, colored glass and satin balls strung with garland alluringly deck the shops, and the halls become visible earlier every year, drawing those in the shopping frenzy far away from the significance.

Perhaps there are many consumed with troublesome thoughts. As silent tears fall across faces pressed against frozen windows, we are touched by throngs of gleeful children shouting and singing the Christmas songs. Still, we wonder if it is all true! Our mood is somber; we feel lonely and empty while our eyes become transfixed on the revealed scene of a babe in the manger on the night that changed the world forever. Then, as our spirits are illuminated by the star that guided those in ages past, suddenly as the meaning of Christmas is revealed truly, All is merry and bright! No longer do we have to meander through the crowds alone. God comes alongside us. We seek and now we have found Love in its pure and perfect form. With outstretched arms, we begin reaching in delight for the touch of Christmas.

Somewhere within the excitement, anticipation begins to swell, reaching into the imagination of our hearts, and suddenly we are captured—caught by this magical moment. In some unexplainable way, the secular becomes sacred as our emotions are freed and transformed! From the depths of our spirits, we exclaim, Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

Like those lingering memories of the wonderment created by the Singing Christmas Tree a couple of decades ago, why not make a determined effort this Christmastime to experience those magical moments of Love and Light once more and join in the authentic Christmas celebration? There might be someone watching nearby who needs a touch of love. Consider the thought that a new memory is being written inside the mind of each one of us. For a moment, allow Christmas to enthrall you once again. Even catch a glimpse of the meaning of those trite, too-familiar Christmas carols. There is good news in those proverbial songs and deeply ingrained melodies—Peace on Earth, goodwill to men!