So Just What Is a "Blue Christmas" Service?
By Chris Garcia, St. John’s Lay Leader
A "Blue Christmas" worship service is a contemplative service usually held on the evening of December 21, the winter solstice and longest night of the year, to acknowledge the heaviness often carried during the holiday season, when we are supposed to feel joy.
For me personally, this service provides a quiet moment in an otherwise hectic month that also holds sadness for the Garcia
family with the December deaths of three family members (one a suicide) over a period of 17 years.
You know, sometimes it’s just hard to “get in the spirit.” I think many of us feel this way.
This “Blue Christmas” service provides a sacred time and space for healing and hope. If you are hurting for any reason, lonesome and not able to be with family, suffering from illness, addiction, or
estrangement, struggling financially, or just feeling blue and in a “funky” mood, please come.
Whatever the reason, join us at the December 21st service. It lasts only about 50 minutes, but the prayers and liturgy, the Pastor’s comforting words, having others present but respecting your personal space, are comforting and reassuring. We gather in the midst of suffering to remember- God is good. God is strong. God is near.
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