For the 13th consecutive year, New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville is staging one of the most elaborate Christmas productions in the county.

With over 350 participants in the play/musical, the 1998 Living Christmas Tree, "The Night All Heaven Sang," will be presented for the last time until next year, today at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The show is a ticketed event to help with crowd control, however, tickets are all free. At press time, a few tickets were still remaining. The church is expecting the full capacity of the sanctuary over 2,000 people from the community.

"It's our way of giving to the community," said Linda Entrekin, administrative assistant to the Rev. John Conrad, minister of music. "The entire production is staffed by volunteers."

The Rev. John Conrad will be directing the production for the second year.

The name of the production tells a lot about the scenery and the story. It is the story of Jesus Christ's birth acted out along with a host of singers from the church choir standing in an enormous, ornate Christmas tree. A fully theatrical production, an entire orchestra will accompany the singers.