Churches Band Together After Activists Hijack Tennessee Community’s Christmas Parade

Over a dozen churches in a small Tennessee city have joined together to host a Christian-focused celebration after the community’s annual Christmas parade was derailed by leftist activists.

Cookeville’s annual Christmas parade became embroiled in controversy earlier this year after activists — including a number of self-identified witches — complained that the original organizers of the parade weren’t “inclusive” enough, prompting city officials to take over the parade and allow politically-themed floats.

As the city took over the parade, Kelly Parkison, a local pastor’s wife and former Miss South Carolina, stepped in and decided to organize the “Happy Birthday Jesus Party.” Parkison told The Daily Wire she organized the event to give local families “something exciting to do that focuses on Jesus” instead of the parade controversy.

At least 18 churches in Cookeville are now involved in planning the birthday party, which will include train rides, a live nativity, food, crafts, and a time of worship. Parkison said that around 200 people have been involved in planning the celebration.

“I’m just really excited about it,” Parkison told The Daily Wire. “We’re just excited for everybody that will come and we hope that they will come and enjoy themselves, have a wonderful time, know how much that they’re loved by the churches in this community, but most of all that they’re loved by Jesus.” 

The celebration will also give locals an opportunity to support Hurricane Helene victims in East Tennessee by purchasing a special ornament designed for the event. 

Parkison’s event is slated for Saturday, while the city’s Christmas parade has ostensibly been canceled due to weather. The city’s parade was set to feature activist organizations and significant input from a number of local witches, according to reporting from conservative Nashville outlet The Pamphleteer. 

The battle over the city parade shows how even in the most conservative of areas — Putnam County, where Cookeville is located, went 73% for Trump in November — activists can leverage the media to pressure local officials. 

The controversy began last year, after Cookeville’s Chamber of Commerce stepped away from organizing the parade after it caused an uproar by denying entry to a sexuality-themed float called “Don we now our gay apparel,” from a local LGBT group over concerns that it would not be family-friendly. 

Scott Parkison, Kelly’s husband and the pastor of Stevens Street Baptist Church, told The Daily Wire that members of the Chamber of Commerce received death threats and were sent pictures of their children after the float application was denied. 

As the Chamber, local leaders from the Life Church and The River Community Church decided to step in and privately organize the parade. The theme they decided on for the parade was “Celebrating the Light of CHRISTmas,” and they asked for participants to not promote anything that would be contrary to their Christian faith. 

This blew up in October after accusations were made and publicized by local media outlets that organizers of the city’s Christmas parade were making participants sign a statement of faith to participate. In actuality, the parade was being privately organized by local church leaders who asked participants to not violate their Christian beliefs if they wanted to participate in the parade. 

In response, a group of activists began to organize a counter parade under the umbrella of a new group called “Cookeville Inclusive.” One of those working to organize this counter parade was the owner of a Cookeville-based occult shop called “The Tiny Cloak” where you can purchase things like an “altar bell” and “altar clothes.” 

Shortly after Cookeville Inclusive began organizing a rival parade, city officials stepped in to, in their words, “save” Christmas. The city council voted 5-0 in late October to take charge of the Christmas parade and appointed Cookeville Inclusive President Sam Raper to the parade planning board. 

“We’re going to see what we can do and hopefully save Christmas,” said Mayor Laurin Wheaton. 

Montana Chambers of the Tiny Cloak occult shop celebrated the city’s move in a Facebook video addressed to “my witchy friends, pagans and practitioners.” 

“The city is now putting on the Christmas parade and has taken it away from the churches. Kind of a big deal. I just want to thank everyone for their support,” she said. 

She added that Raper had been asked by the city to join the Christmas parade committee and was put “in charge of approving of applications and coordinating volunteers so this is a big win for us.” 

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The Pamphleteer reported that Cookeville Inclusive, Upper Cumberland Pride, Queer Closet, and the Tiny Cloak were all slated to have floats. 

Chambers told The Daily Wire that the Tiny Cloak’s Christmas parade float would have been “The Legend of the Christmas Witch.” 

“Any concerns about ‘pushing occult practices’ are utterly baseless Christian fear mongering,” she said. “We live in a free society and we have the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, as much as our Christian neighbors do, and have equal rights to participate in society, whether in a public park or a parade.”

“Before I left the church, I learned in Bible school that Christians were called to ‘love thy neighbor as thine self’ and yet all of this backlash and controversy seems to be the exact opposite of Christ’s message,” she added. “I wish my Christian neighbors would be more kind, welcoming, and accepting of their neighbors who just believe a little differently than them.” 

Scott Parkison told The Daily Wire that it was “very frustrating” that Mayor Wheaton allowed the parade to be controlled by activist organizations. 

“Our town is full of constitutional conservatives that embrace family values and that want to conserve that in our city,” he said. “Our town does not want DEI initiatives to be pushed upon its citizens. We don’t want it in our schools. We don’t want it in our city.” 

In the end, all of the controversy turned out to be moot after the city canceled the parade two nights in a row due to rain. But many commenters on the city’s Facebook post about the cancellation were skeptical of the reasons for the decision. 

Kelly Parkison said that her “Happy Birthday Jesus” event was never meant as a direct competitor to the city’s parade, but as a positive alternative. 

“My heart was never to try to compete with the parade or anything like that,” she said. “I just feel like the Lord called me to do it and my hope is really that we can just bring hope and peace and joy and unity into our community.”

She said all the negativity surrounding the parade inspired her to take a different direction. The celebration on Saturday will conclude with everyone singing “Silent Night” and “Happy Birthday” before all going home with cake kits designed to tell the story of Christmas. 

Other conservative Tennessee cities have not been immune from the cultural battles in recent years. Last year in Franklin, a conservative hub just south of Nashville, the city board was locked in debate for hours over whether to approve a “Pride” festival on city grounds. Residents and city board members said the festival had previously exposed young children to inappropriate drag performances and other indecencies. The council approved the festival with a 5-4 vote, with the mayor demanding that it be family-friendly.