AGAWAM – The Bethany Assembly of God’s famous singing tree is back, and it’s better than ever, according to Minister of Music Ken Bryars.

Agawam’s Bethany Assembly of God will present its 44th annual Singing Christmas Tree Spectacular with eight presentations over the first two weekends of December. The 60 voice Bethany Choir will be organized as ornaments on a towering 25-foot steel tree while presenting the story of the Advent of the Christ. The choir will be joined by the 18 piece Bethany Orchestra and guided by Bryars.

The Bethany Drama Department will also complement the Spectacular by performing a visual re-enactment of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, with the angels, shepherds, and the Magi.

“Everything is done live. We do a musical and we want to tell the Christmas story in a fresh way, but also still tell the story,” said Bryars. “It’s a visual and a musical Christmas story, but we want to make sure everybody understands that Christmas is not about buying gifts, it’s about the coming of the Christ child.”

Although the Spectacular is in its 44th year, Bryars explained that the church tries to change up the performance every year.

“We try to change up the music, it’s not same-old-same-old every year,” he said. “We’ve added a new song that I’ve written and added more visuals this year in terms of video. It’s always worth coming back to every year because we do something a little different every year. Sometimes we have a completely new musical.”

The musical is called “Ring the Bells, Emmanuel Has Come” and begins with Movement 1 with The Carols of Christmas – a trio of musical numbers, including a medley of Christmas favorites, followed by a Celtic-flavored Madrigal medley and ending with “The Little Drummer Boy”.

Movement 2 brings The Christ of Christmas, with the title song “Ring the Bells,” which is a brand-new Christmas lullaby. Next is “Hallelujah, Light Has Come” (written by Barlow Girl), followed by “How Many Kings.”

Movement 3 features The Celebration of Christmas with “Mary, Did You Know,” “God Came Down” and a reprise of “Ring The Bells”.

Throughout the musical, the multi-colored lights on the tree dance to the beat of the music, according to Bryars, while an Environmental Projection for the walls adds to the visual experience.

“I spent probably 30 hours programming the lights for the tree,” said the minister of music. “Then we also have what we call environmental projection – which is three projectors that project on walls. We project snow falling and we do some really neat things. Kids love it and so do the adults.”

Bryars added the preparation for the Spectacular, including the visual logistics, is challenging and time consuming, but also extremely worth it.

He said his favorite part about the Spectacular is seeing the diversity in the audience. “The most rewarding part is seeing all of the different people coming into the church from all walks of life,” said Bryars. “We get a lot of people from other churches that come because this kicks off their Christmas season.”

The presentations for the Spectacular are scheduled for Dec. 7 at 7 p.m., Dec. 8 at 6 p.m., Dec. 9 at 3 and 6 p.m., Dec. 14 at 7 p.m., Dec. 15 at 6p.m. and Dec. 16 at 3 and 6 p.m.

All seats are free with no individual reserved seating. Seating for large groups can be arranged by contacting the church.

The Bethany Assembly of God is located at the corner of Rt. 57 and Main Street in Agawam. For more information, visit the church’s website at https://bethany-ag.org/.