Welcome to this Blue Christmas service, a time when we can, in community with each other, acknowledge sadness, grief, loneliness, separation and other hard emotions we may feel this Christmas time.

This is a time of the short days and long nights, when memories of past experiences and the pain of the present reality can become overwhelming.

Recognizing that this is not a season of unbridled joy for everyone, in this service we will be invited to reflect on the pain, the loneliness and the sorrow we may feel and offer it all to our great sign of hope, the Holy Child of Bethlehem.

We pray that all of us will find hope and comfort in knowing that we are not alone.