Most of us feel happiness and warmth this time of year as we hustle about planning the perfect meal or picking out the perfect gift for each person on our Christmas list. It’s quite easy to lose track of just how unhappy and cold someone around you may be feeling at the very same time. The holidays are not always full of laughter and joy from one year to the next, and at some point in all of our lives, we will struggle to find a place where we feel peace and hope.
That is why Pastor Ruth Sanders holds the Blue Christmas Service at Wesley United Methodist Church so close to her heart. The service will be on Sunday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church in Crookston. “It is a long-standing tradition to have this service here,” says Sanders. “Pastor Michelle Miller and Pastor Jo Gast started this service many years ago, and it’s been a joy for me to continue this tradition.”
Christmas is not always a time when people feel joy in their hearts but instead carry with them grief and sorrow and things can pile up and make them feel heavy. “This Blue Christmas service is a service of remembrance and reflection of God’s deep love amidst our pain,” says Sanders. “We are going to be really concentrating on those who have lost loved ones, but also, those with money worries, or anxiety of any kind, loneliness, difficult family relationships, these are big things in our lives, we can’t go around these things, we have to walk through them.”
All are invited and welcomed. “We are just inviting everyone to come and to participate in the service,” says Sanders. “We will have special music, we will have scripture, Justin Turpie will be with us from Stenshoels to be part of the service, and we are just looking forward to welcoming everyone in the community; everyone is invited.”
If you can’t make it to Wesley United Methodist Church on Sunday evening, Sanders says there are a couple of other ways that you can participate. “We will be recording the service so you can go to CrookstonMethodist.com and watch it from there, probably the next day,” says Sanders. “Also, Stenshchoels will be recording it so that you can go to their website as well.”
The Blue Christmas Service will be held Sunday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church in Crookston.
