By Charlene Tebbutt

Prince Albert churches celebrate the holidays

Dec 21, 2018 | 5:29 PM

With just days until Christmas, churches around Prince Albert are welcoming residents as they celebrate the season.

Churches around the city are preparing for holiday services, with many starting tonight. Some churches, such as the Messiah Lutheran and the Calvary United Church are hosting services Friday night, and say the holidays can be a sad time for some.

Brooklynn Lane is an intern pastor with the Messiah Lutheran Church. The holidays are about celebrating the birth of Christ, she said, and treating all people with respect and compassion. The church will hold its first-ever Blue Christmas Service Friday night starting at 7 p.m. for anyone grieving a loss or feeling lonely during the holidays.

“Church is being part of a community,” Lane said. “It brings people together, it opens the doors to anyone, and sometimes Christmas is a very hard time for a lot of people.”

Reverend Nora Vedress with Calvary United Church said the church celebrates the holidays, but also hold a Longest Night service to recognize the Winter Solstice. The longest night of the year, Dec. 21 also signals the countdown the spring, but can still be a lonely time for some in the community, she said.

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The service starts at 7 p.m.  

“It’s a wonderful time and so joyful, and yet there’s also grief with that,” Vedress said. “There’s people we miss, there’s people who won’t be gathering with us this year, and that’s a really heavy burden to carry, and so the longest night service just offers a time to give space to that, to acknowledge our losses and voice the struggles that we have.”

Calvary United Church will host a Christmas Eve service at two times Monday night. Vedress said the family service will begin at 6:30 p.m. and features a relaxed atmosphere, followed by a more traditional candlelight Communion service at 9 p.m. Vedress said everyone is welcome to join the services over the holidays, whether they are regular attendees throughout the year or not.

“Remind yourself of what this is really about,” she added. “It’s about making a space for that centre of spirituality in our lives that I think a lot of us are really yearning for … and the church is just one way to claim that.”

Across the Roman Catholic Diocese, masses will be held to celebrate the holidays at many parishes, both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Bishop Albert Thévenot said the midnight mass on Christmas Eve holds a special appeal for many.

“We are celebrating the birth of Christ as our savior and redeemer,” Thévenot said. “This is always an attraction for many families and they come for that reason, because it is really a family-oriented celebration.”

Thévenot said he also looks forward to participating in the Christmas dinner at École St. Mary High School on Christmas Day, and celebrating the season with those are less fortunate.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt