LONGEST NIGHT SERVICES• Burks United Methodist Church, 6433 Hixson Pike, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.• First Baptist Church, 401 Gateway Ave., 6 p.m. Wednesday.• Trinity Lutheran Church, 5001 Hixson Pike, 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Loneliness and extended darkness give many people the blues in the winter, but several pastors say it’s often worse at Christmas when many people remember happy times they once experienced.
The Rev. Thomas Quisenberry, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, recalled one man who related how he was alone at the holidays for the first time in 40 years.
He said the man described himself as “rough and tough on the exterior” but how he cried every day when he pulled into his driveway.
First Baptist, Trinity Lutheran and Burks United Methodist are among area churches offering Longest Night services this week around the winter solstice, when there is less daylight than any other day of the year.
Quisenberry said the service is for people who have hurts of any kind. They may be lonely or grieving, he said, but they may be having trouble selling a house, have received a cancer diagnosis or have a job in jeopardy.
“Hurt doesn’t come in one form,” he said. “There are all kinds of pain.”
Richard Johnson, an officer in Positive Christian Singles at First-Centenary United Methodist Church, which offers a year-round, weekly meal and program for singles, said the holidays are often “the most challenging time of the year” for singles.
“They’re used to having their former loved ones [with them] to enjoy the holidays,” he said.
Sharon Lucas, a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, said all holidays are tougher if someone has experienced loss and what had been a joyful time isn’t anymore.
“People bring a variety of situations and personal experiences [to such a service],” she said.
Trinity Lutheran’s service begins with lament and ends with hope, and both are important, said Lucas, who had led several similar services in North Dakota.
“The Hebrew scriptures are full of lament,” she said. “It’s a very important part of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
The day itself, Lucas said, is a turning point.
“After that,” she said, “the days get longer, [proving] there’s always hope.”
Burks United Methodist will host a service for a third consecutive year, according to the Rev. Rhonda Hobbs.
The church’s service, she said, offers hymns, a time for prayer and candle lighting.
“It’s a mix of bittersweetness,” Hobbs said of people remembering good times and loved ones who are no longer with them. “[The service] is a time and space to acknowledge that grief. We don’t say cheer up. It’s a quiet service, a time to be set apart.”