Blue Christmas Resources for Healing and Grace

Introduction

The season of Advent invites us into the profound mystery of Emmanuel — God with us. The incarnation, where divine love takes on human form, is both a joyous and deeply meaningful event. Yet, like the incarnation itself, this season is filled with complex emotions. Alongside the awe and promise of new life, we also acknowledge the frailty and struggles of being human, including grief and loss. The image of God coming to us as a vulnerable infant reminds us that all time and place are holy, that both joy and sorrow are sacred, and that our relationships with God and with each other are woven with divine grace.

Even as we celebrate the birth of Christ, the church is also called to recognize and honor the grief carried by those whose relationships have been altered or lost through death or other forms of separation. Hosting a Longest Night or Blue Christmas worship service creates space for those who are grieving, walking in the shadow of loss, or seeking a liturgy that speaks to their pain. These services offer a communal setting for people to acknowledge their laments, find solace, and experience God’s comforting presence.

The Need for Grief and Lament in Worship

For many, the holiday season can be a bittersweet time, where moments of joy are shadowed by feelings of grief, loneliness, or distress. These emotions may emerge suddenly or be anticipated as the holidays approach. In a culture that often pressures us to “put on a happy face,” the church is uniquely positioned to offer a sacred, compassionate alternative. Jesus’ words, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), remind us that worship is meant to nurture the fullness of our humanity. A Blue Christmas service is a beautiful practice of communal Sabbath, where the full range of human emotions, including sorrow, are welcome.

By incorporating grief into corporate worship, we resist the isolation that pain and loneliness can foster. Throughout Scripture, especially in the Psalms and Lamentations, we find examples of God’s people openly expressing their grief and lament in community. Psalm 130, for example, uses deeply personal “I” language but is also meant to be sung by groups of pilgrims, reflecting both individual and communal sorrow. Similarly, the book of Lamentations blends individual pain with a collective voice, showing that our personal grief is intertwined with the experiences of the broader community. In sharing our sorrows within the safety of the worshiping community, we find strength and solidarity. Blue Christmas services offer an opportunity to lean on God’s love, trusting that grace meets us in our vulnerability, guiding us toward healing and wholeness with God, ourselves, our neighbors, and creation.

A Wesleyan Theology of Love and Grace

At the heart of a Blue Christmas service is the proclamation of God’s presence. One of the United Methodist Affirmations of Faith (#883) begins and ends with the powerful declaration, “we are not alone.” Grief often brings with it a profound sense of isolation, the feeling that no one can fully understand our pain. But as followers of Christ, we affirm that God is a God of grace that, as Bishop Kenneth Carder describes, “is God’s presence to create, heal, forgive, reconcile, and transform human hearts, communities, and the entire creation.”

When we sing Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” (UMH #384), we are reminded of this grace at work within us, asking God to “finish, then, thy new creation.” This hymn becomes a prayer for God’s love to bring us forward into healing. It is God’s presence that we cling to in moments of darkness and despair. As the Psalmist writes, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NRSV). Gathering together on the longest night of the year, we are reminded that even in our darkest hours, God’s light is never fully extinguished. The simple acts of lighting a candle, listening to Scripture, and being in community are acts of faith in the transforming love of our ever-present God.

Resources for Blue Christmas Worship Services

Below, you will find a collection of resources to assist in planning a Blue Christmas or Longest Night service, designed to bring healing and grace to those in need. Please ensure that all copyrighted materials are used in accordance with copyright laws.

These services offer a sacred pause amid the holiday bustle, providing space for honest reflection, lament, and the hope of God’s enduring presence.

Background Resources

• Blue Christmas/Longest Night Worship with Those Who Mourn
• Blue Christmas? Or Longest Night Communion?

Complete Liturgies

• Blue Christmas: A Service of Reflection for the Longest Night
• A Service of Word and Table for Longest Night/Blue Christmas
• Blue Christmas Liturgy from the United Church of Christ
• Service of Darkness and Light (p. 31-36 of the Journey Toward Mental Wellness sermon guide from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund)
• Reformed Worship: Longest Night

Additional Liturgy Pieces

• Blue Christmas, Year A Worship Resources
• Blue Christmas Liturgy resources from the re:Worship blog

Litany for Blue Christmas

We come to this time of prayer heavy with burdens. Some we can name, and others dwell too deep inside for words. Whatever you carry with you today, remember: God knows the depths of your heart, and God loves you.

Let us pray.

We pray for those who grieve the loss of loved ones, jobs, stability, certainty, or hope; who long for the day when the pain does not overwhelm and the sorrow comes in trickles instead of torrents.

We wait in our grief, and in our grief, God waits with us.

We pray for those who suffer under corporations, politicians, laws, and systems; who long for the day when their work is fairly compensated, their rest is protected, and their dignity is secure.

We wait in our suffering, and in our suffering, God waits with us.

We pray for those who live surrounded by violence; who long for the day when their home, neighborhood, city, or nation is no longer a place of fear and division, but, instead, a place of flourishing and ­­­care.

We wait in our distress, and in our distress, God waits with us.

We pray for those overwhelmed with worry and dread; who long for the day when peace will reign in our bodies, our families, our community, and our world.

We wait in our worry, and in our distress, God waits with us.

Loving God who came to dwell among us, fill our hearts with your loving presence. Draw us together in your love. Help us cling to the truth that in our grief, our pain, our distress, and our worry, we are not alone. God is with us, and the Spirit binds us together in the Body of Christ, that we may be agents of love, comfort, and hope to one another and all the world. Amen.

Hymns and songs

In The United Methodist Hymnal (UMH) and The Faith We Sing (TFWS)

• Creator of the Stars of Night UMH 692
• Of the Father’s Love Begotten UMH 184
• Star Child TFWS 2095
• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel UMH 211
• In the Bleak Midwinter UMH 221
• Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light UMH 223
• O Little Town of Bethlehem UMH 230
• Silent Night, Holy Night UMH 239
• Away in a Manger UMH 217
• When Our Confidence Is Shaken UMH 505
• We’ll Understand It Better By and By UMH 525

Other resources

• Canticle of Light and Darkness UMH 205
• For Those Who Mourn (prayer) UMH 461
• Canticle of Redemption (Psalm 130) UMH 516
• Psalm 139 UMH 854
• Stay With Us TFWS 2199
• Light of the World TFWS 2204

Solos

• Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming UMH 216
• Welcome to our World Worship & Song 3067
• I Wonder as I Wander
• Comfort Ye, from Handel’s Messiah
• In the Wilderness by Rachel Morley
• Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt (Violin and piano)
• Plowshare Prayer by Spencer LaJoye

Blessings and Meditations for Hope

• Jan Richardson’s "Drawing Near" A poetic blessing that encourages walking through the darkness toward hope.
• Jan Richardson’s “How the Light Comes” – A poem expressing hope in the midst of darkness
• Howard Thurman’s "I Will Light Candles This Christmas" A declaration of lighting the way with hope, peace, and love despite darkness.
• “Into This Silent Night” by Ann Weems
• “Grief” by Gwen Flowers
• Guerillas of Grace by Ted Loder
• Jan Richardson, The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

-Wendell Berry