{"id":8263,"date":"2005-12-20T00:45:17","date_gmt":"2005-12-20T05:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8263"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:29:10","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:29:10","slug":"4650","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/20\/4650\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Christmas Mourning’ for Those Suffering Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOPEKA, KS (December 20, 2005)\u00a0 – The couple sat down at one of the tables\u00a0 outside the sanctuary and began to show others the photo albums filled\u00a0 with pictures of their two adult sons who had died earlier that year in\u00a0 a fire.<\/p>\n

The husband and wife had never attended Brookwood Covenant Church, but\u00a0 when they saw the notice in the Topeka newspaper, the couple knew they\u00a0 needed to attend the special service held for those had suffered loss \u2013 referred to by some as the “Blue Christmas” or “Christmas Mourning” service.<\/div>\n
Many of the people who attend the service find it helpful to stay and\u00a0 visit over hot drinks and snacks as they share their stories, says\u00a0 associate pastor Joan Porter. “Some years,” she notes, “people stay\u00a0 longer than other years and it doesn’t seem to matter whether they know\u00a0 anyone or not.”<\/div>\n
What they do know is that the others have experienced pain and are\u00a0 fellow sufferers. They know they are not alone.<\/div>\n
Worship services around Advent and Christmas are filled with songs of\u00a0 preparation and joyous carols that focus on the return of Jesus as well\u00a0 as his birth. Often lost amid the celebration and promise are people who\u00a0 struggle to cope with a painful past. For many of these, the birth of\u00a0 Jesus can seem even more remote than the 2,000 years time span.<\/div>\n
Liturgy can help people work through their grief in pursuit of healing,\u00a0 and so some Evangelical Covenant churches have begun to hold special\u00a0 services that focus on loss. Brookwood began its Christmas Mourning\u00a0 service in 1996 after the congregation had experienced an unusually\u00a0 large number of deaths, says Porter.<\/div>\n
The service, which normally is held on a Sunday afternoon, has attracted\u00a0 anywhere from seven to more than 20 people, she says. About 15 people\u00a0 attended the Blue Christmas service held Sunday evening at the Batavia\u00a0 Covenant Church in Batavia, Illinois, says interim senior pastor Michael\u00a0 Murphy.<\/div>\n
The loss doesn’t have to be related to the death of someone, he says.\u00a0 People who have lost jobs or are mourning the loss of opportunities as\u00a0 they have grown older also have benefited from such services.<\/div>\n
Services normally last between 20 and 30 minutes, pastors say. Brookwood\u00a0 and Batavia offer the opportunity in the service to light candles.\u00a0 Brookwood has a microphone set up so that people can share about their\u00a0 loss when they come forward to light a candle. A woman at Batavia read\u00a0 several poems that were appropriate for the occasion.<\/div>\n
As with the many psalms of lament in the Bible, the service also speaks\u00a0 of hope. The Brookwood service included hymns that included “Christmas\u00a0 Has Its Cradle” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” both of which are found\u00a0 in The Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook.<\/em><\/div>\n
Familiar carols also were played in the service at Batavia as reminders\u00a0 of hope. “It wasn’t a grim service by any means,” says Murphy. “It was\u00a0 cathartic.”<\/div>\n
(Editor’s note: since publication of this story, we have received\u00a0 feedback from several online readers, including the following from a\u00a0 reader in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, who writes in part: “Older folk who\u00a0 have to cope with the losses of aging, as well as people of all ages\u00a0 dealing with loss, have to do so pretty much alone. I thank God for the\u00a0 Covenant churches in Batavia and Topeka, which are so caringly\u00a0 addressing this in their Blue Christmas services.” And, another reader\u00a0 from San Luis Obispo, California, writes: “What a wonderful way to\u00a0 celebrate the Christmas time – to reach out to people who for whatever\u00a0 reason are sad and hurting.\u00a0 That is what the Christmas Spirit of Christ\u00a0 is all about. Congratulations to these churches for such innovation.”)<\/em><\/div>\n
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Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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TOPEKA, KS (December 20, 2005)\u00a0 – The couple sat down at one of the tables\u00a0 outside the sanctuary and began to show others the photo albums filled\u00a0 with pictures of their two adult sons who had died earlier that year in\u00a0 a fire. 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