A Service of Healing and Renewal
BCUC Blue Christmas Service
December 15, 2021 – 6 pm
Ministers: Rev. Lorrie Lowes & Rev. Kim Vidal
Music Director: Abe TeGrotenhuis
Members of the Pastoral & Spiritual Care Team
The audio recording of this service can be found below.
You can also dial-in by phone to listen to the audio recording at 613-820-8104
Gathering Music: Come and Find the Quiet Centre VU 374
(Words: Shirley Erena Murray, 1989; Music, attrib. Benjamin Franklin White, 1844)
Come and find the quiet centre
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us,
cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
knows our being, face to face.
making space within our thinking,
lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we're shrinking,
finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel,
open to each other's pain,
let our loves and fears unravel,
celebrate the space we gain:
there's a place for deepest dreaming,
there's a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit's lively scheming
there is always room to spare
Words of Welcome Rev. Kim Vidal
Welcome to our annual service of hope, healing and renewal also known as Blue Christmas service. For some of us, memories of past experiences and the pain of present experiences and situations can become overwhelming. For some of us, this season of joy and wonder can be very difficult and sometimes it reminds us of the challenges in our lives, particularly, as we go through the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite all the decorations, the greeting cards received, the Christmas carols sang, the anticipated presents and dinner with families and loved ones and the advertisers who want you to believe that you can buy joy, I’m sure that some of us don’t really feel very much like celebrating. The idea that a Merry Little Christmas is all you need for your troubles to be miles away has a hollow ring to it.
I hope that you’ll find this service a safe place to be transparent with yourself and with God, a comforting place to admit that maybe you’re not ok at the moment, that maybe what you’re really feeling is sadness, grief, or even anger. This healing service is a place for you to be real with your struggles and your questions.
Those of us feeling blue at this time of the year, particularly those who lost a loved one this year can feel edged out and forgotten as everyone else seems caught up in the mad frenzy of preparations and celebrations. I hope that as you think about Christmas, you’ll find comfort and hope in knowing that you are not alone. We are here to give you comfort and healing love.
In this service, I invite you to listen. I invite you to pray. I invite you to sing. I invite you to meditate upon the pain and anguish you may have—and I invite you to offer your heart and tears. And as you do so, I trust that you will find hope, healing and comfort as we seek God’s light. I now invite you to open your heart and mind as we come together in God’s presence.
Call to Gather[1] Rev. Lorrie Lowes
All around us, lights are lit and carols play.
The season heaps joy upon us.
Yet, we who come here, we carry more than joy;
we carry loss, worry, grief and pain.
We come weary, seeking rest from expectations.
We also seek a holy presence to be with us.
We come to this place, by the resilient grace of God:
love that never lets go.
Hymn: Stay with Us VU 182
(Words: Walter Farquharson, 1988; Music: Ron Klusmeier, 1989)
Stay with us through the night
stay with us through the pain
stay with us blessed stranger
till the morning breaks again.
Stay with us through the night
stay with us through the grief
stay with us blessed stranger
till the morning brings relief.
Stay with us through the night
stay with us through the dread
stay with us blessed stranger
till the morning breaks New Bread.
A Prayer of Lament[2] Rev. Kim Vidal
The human journey is thwarted with struggles and challenges. Our prayer today comes in acknowledgement of this journey and in our primal need for God’s presence in our lives.
I now invite you to reflect with me in this Lament for a Blue Christmas by Heather Grobb.
Oh God, my God,
Why do I feel so far away from you?
Why does it seem like you are nowhere to be found in my life right now?
I feel so separated from your love in this time of distress?
Moment of Silence
My nights are long with sorrow.
My days are dull with pain.
No one seems to understand me.
I move wearily through life alone.
My heart is heavy with grief.
The light has gone from my eyes,
eyes made red from crying.
O God, my God, hear me in my times of sorrow.
O God, my God, be with me in my time of need.
Moment of Silence
And yet, you are the all-loving One.
The Alpha and the Omega.
The Everlasting Day after the seemingly ceaseless night.
Beyond all time and space, you are God.
The meager things of this world will soon fade away
into the presence of your love for us. Praise be to you name, O God, my God.
Words of Assurance
When burdens get piled on top of other burdens, the load can crush us or at least seem like it is crushing. Jesus offers to help carry our burdens and responsibilities. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)
Reflections of the Heart
Reading 1
Reader: Barbara Bole
God is our hope. We remember all those we have loved and lost.
We pause to remember their names, their faces, their voices.
We give thanks for the memory that binds them to us during this season of holy waiting.
May God’s eternal hope surround us all.
Advent by Jessica Powers
I live my Advent in the womb of Mary.
And on one night when a great star swings free
From its high mooring and walks down the sky
To be the dot above the Christus i,
I shall be born of her by blessed grace.
I wait in Mary-darkness, faith’s walled place,
with hope’s expectance of nativity.
I know for long she carried me and fed me,
Guarded and loved me, though I could not see.
But only now, with inward jubilee,
I come upon earth’s most amazing knowledge:
Someone is hidden in this darkness with me.
Sung Response: Don’t Be Afraid MV 90
(Words: John L. Bell & Graham Maule, 1995; Music: John L. Bell, 1995)
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
and I have promised, promised to be always near.
Reading 2
Reader: Susan Young
God is our healer. We remember before us the pain and loss:
the loss of relationships, the loss of jobs, and the loss of health.
As we gather up the pain of the past, we offer it to you, Holy One.
We pray that into our broken hearts and open hands, you place the gift of peace.
Refresh, restore, renew us, O God, and lead us in your way.
The Shadow Falls Past Christmas by Andrew King
Shadow falls past Christmas.
But see the light still shining;
faith and hope still singing; the contest
for the human heart goes on.
May we, as Mary and Joseph did,
Keep listening to the words of visions and dreams.
Keep moving the feet
toward morning’s hope,
free as a gift of love,
however distant the dawn.
And may the darkness fail to chase us down.
Sung Response: Don’t Be Afraid MV 90
(Words: John L. Bell & Graham Maule, 1995; Music: John L. Bell, 1995)
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
and I have promised, promised to be always near.
Reading 3
Reader: Rev. Lorrie Lowes
God is our comforter. We remember our faith and the gift of love
which God offers to us in the Christmas story.
We remember that God, who shares our life,
promises us gifts of hope, peace,
joy and love through the birth of Jesus.
Let us remember the One who shows the way
and goes with us into tomorrow.
An Unending Love by Rabbi Rami Shapiro
We are loved by an unending love.
We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves.
We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing.
We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear.
We are loved by an unending love.
We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall.
We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting.
We are loved by an unending love.
Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,
Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;
Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles;
We are loved by an unending love.
Sung Response: Don’t Be Afraid MV90
(Words: John L. Bell & Graham Maule, 1995; Music: John L. Bell, 1995)
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger,
and I have promised, promised to be always near.
Prayer of Healing and Hope & The Lord’s Prayer Rev. Lorrie Lowes
(selections from Celebrate God’s Presence)
God of comfort and compassion,
Hear us as we pray for ourselves and for all who live with loss and loneliness, pain and grief, hurt and isolation.
We ask for strength for today, courage for tomorrow, and peace for the past.
God of hope,
Give us this night a glimpse of trust and assurance,
A sense of purpose and possibility.
Come into our hearts and our minds, bringing comfort, health, and peace.
Recreate in us a sense of thanksgiving, in the joy of your love.
And now we raise our hearts together as we pray the ancient prayer that Jesus taught his friends.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory,
Forever and ever, Amen.
Carol: Silent Night VU 67
(Words: Joseph Mohr, 1818, English trans. John Freeman Young, 1863; Music: Franz Xavier Gruber, 1818)
1 Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
2.Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing 'Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
3.Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
Benediction [3] Rev. Kim Vidal
May the love of the faithful Creator,
the peace of the wounded Healer,
the joy of the challenging Spirit,
the hope of the Three in One
surround and encourage you,
today, tonight and forever. Amen.
Departing Carol: Dreaming Mary MV 134
(Words & Music: Janet Gadeski, 2005)
1. There was a child in Galilee
who wandered wild along the sea.
A holy child, alone was she,
and they called her Dreaming Mary.
And she dreamed, rejoicing in her saviour;
she dreamed of justice for the poor.
She dreamed that kings oppressed no more
when she dreamed, that Dreaming Mary.
2. One holy day an angel came
with voice of wind and eyes of flame.
He promised blessed would be her name
when he spoke to Dreaming Mary.
Then she spoke, rejoicing in her saviour.
She spoke of justice for the poor.
She spoke that kings oppressed no more
when she spoke, that Dreaming Mary.
3. And did she dream about a son?
And did he speak, the angel one?
We only know God’s will was done
in the son of Dreaming Mary.
Then she prayed, rejoicing in her saviour.
She taught him justice for the poor.
She taught that kings oppressed no more
when she taught, that Dreaming Mary.
4. Then Jesus grew in Galilee,
they wandered wild along the sea.
Now he calls to you and me
to dream with Dreaming Mary.
And we dream, rejoicing in our saviour.
We dream of justice for the poor.
We dream that kings oppress no more
as we dream with Dreaming Mary.
Bonus: I’ll Have a Blue Christmas - piano Abe
Extra Bonus: God is Good (Joy Comes, Tears Fall) - Francesca Battistelli
[1] Loss, Healing, and Hope: A “Blue Christmas” Service. United Church Website.
[2] Heather Grobb, Gathering ACE 2020-2021, p. 73. Used with Permission.
[3] Kathy Galloway, The Pattern of Our Days, Wild Goose Publications, 1998