Contrary to the popular belief among the many, isolation is the very last thing that a grieving and/ or depressed person needs. The purpose and structure of the Blue Christmas service is to relieve that sense of isolation as effectively as possible.
The service allows people to come together and participate together in a liturgy (church service) that is designed to promote fellowship, but also to respect privacy. One of the fundamental purposes of liturgy is to provide pastoral care in community. People who would not normally seek help on a one-to-one basis may feel completely comfortable joining with others in a church service.
Our hope is that the Blue Christmas service will attract those people and help dispel the sense of loneliness that they may feel. A further hope is that new friendships and acquaintances may grow from the event. The offer will also be made for more personal, face-to-face assistance. In essence, we hope to open a door that some may well believe has been closed to them forever.
Sunday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 45 Crosswicks St., Bordentown City, will be the annual Blue Christmas Service.
Funeral Director Robert Pecht of Bordentown Home for Funerals, the Rev. Matt Tucker of Christ Episcopal Church and the Rev. Mike Burns of St. Mary’s Church will bring their respective disciplines and talents together to help those who struggle during the Christmas season with a special liturgy that the lonely and the grieving can call their own.
These people who are not having a very merry Christmas and the friends and family who support them are invited to come and sit with one another in a liturgy that speaks of the love of God for the grieving.
For more information call Bordentown Home for Funerals at 609-298-0128 or Christ Episcopal Church at 609-298-2348.
Everyone regardless of religious conviction or lack thereof is invited to be part of this service.
Art Pecht is a funeral director at the Bordentown Home for Funerals and Tom Shea is a deacon at St. Mary’s R.C. Church.
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