The Longest Night Service

For some of us this holiday season contains more sorrow, grief, or loneliness than it does joy or festive cheer. The encroaching darkness of the winter solstice—the longest night of the year—can exacerbate those feelings. So we take time amidst the celebrations of the season to entreat God in honesty and humility, bringing our questions and our despair. (That’s why this service is sometimes called Blue Christmas.) Still, we are clear that despair is not our final home. So in this service we pray and sing together as we put our hope in Jesus’ promise “to be with us, even to the end of time.”