It is true that many people do not experience the Advent and Christmas season as a period of joy and light. For many - and perhaps more of us than would care to admit it – this season transports our greatest fears, losses, realities and shattered hopes into a time when most people are singing, socialising and enjoying life to the fullest. We may feel even more lost, more abandoned, more lonely and more afraid in this season of light and love. We offer this Blue Christmas service so that together we can name these fears and realities, bring them to the light and allow them to be met by the grace and truth and transforming touch of Immanuel, God with us. Who knows, we may realise the fullest hopes of the season, not through our celebrations and colourful decorations, but by casting our gaze through the darkness to see the approaching light, even if from a great distance.[1]

[1] Adapted from The Introduction to Blue Christmas. Todd Outcalt. Nashville, Upper Room Books, 2018.