It's hard for to say the words "Blue Christmas" without hearing the late Elvis Presley's rich baritone voice. Elvis isn't credited with starting the liturgical trend with his 1957 hit song, but "Blue Christmas" services have increased significantly among United Methodist churches in the first two decades of the 21st century.
According to Wikipedia, "Blue Christmas" shares its origins with pagan rituals marking the winter solstice when daylight is shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. Wikipedia also notes "an interesting convergence" for services held on Dec. 21, which is also the traditional "feast day" for Saint Thomas the Apostle. Some observances note that Thomas' struggle to believe in Jesus' resurrection resembles the struggle of many for whom the holiday season marks emotional darkness and grief at the loss of loved ones and from trauma or other life events. (Syrian Christians moved Saint Thomas' feast day from Dec. 21, when he was thought to have died, to July 3 after his remains were discovered in Chennai, India, where his death date was found to be July 3).
Arkansas Online also says that the "Blue Christmas" idea didn't begin with Elvis. In fact, it didn't begin with famed country singer Ernest Tubb, who in 1950 covered the song written two years earlier by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. That year, says the website, "the song as Tubb covered it was Billboard's No. 1 jukebox hit for a week in January 1950." The site also notes that the phrase "a blue Christmas" was first documented around 1900 in a letter from Lord Kitchener about the deaths of more than 500 British troops during the Boer War in South Africa.
Perhaps because of grief over the high number of churches exiting The United Methodist Church in the past 18 months, two annual conferences in the South Central Jurisdiction boast big lists of "Blue Christmas" services this year. The South Central Jurisdiction – an eight-state region of U.S. United Methodist churches including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas – has had 1,586 churches "disaffiliate" out of the total 7,654 churches that have left the denomination since 2019.
The Arkansas Annual Conference shows 21 "Blue Christmas" worship services planned Dec. 1 through Dec. 21 from Fort Smith and Fayetteville in the north near the Oklahoma state line to Hot Springs and Pine Bluff in the south. The state capital, Little Rock, in the state center, lists four services. In Sherwood, a suburb about 20 minutes northeast of Little Rock, Sylvan Hills UMC expanded its Dec. 4 Blue Christmas observance as a “Surviving Grief and the Holidays” workshop that included lunch and guest speaker Simone Brock, bereavement specialist from Arkansas Hospice.
In the Dallas-based North Texas Conference, "Blue Christmas" services stand at the top of the conference's website home page. The North Texas conference anticipates a merger with Central Texas and Northwest Texas conferences in 2024, so it includes a wide geographic area. A "find-a-service" interactive map shows 88 "Blue Christmas" services stretching from three United Methodist churches in Round Rock, Texas, about 20 miles north of Austin, to Burkburnett 15 miles north of Wichita Falls near Texas' northern border with Oklahoma. Services also are listed from Fort Worth eastward to Paris, Texas, located 155 miles northwest of Shreveport, La.
The North Texas webpage explains: "Blue Christmas Worship Experience offers a safe space for anyone feeling lost or alone during the holidays. It welcomes all backgrounds, beliefs, and struggles, providing support and encouragement through music, prayer, and messages of hope."
North Texas also gives resources for churches to use in crafting their "Blue Christmas" worship and providing pastoral care after worship. Among the suggestions gathered by licensed professional counselor Barb Petsel:
- A Memory Grows offers support for those who have lost a child of any age.
- Faith and Grief - provides opportunities for comfort & hope to those who have experienced the death of a loved one.
- Why God? Suffering and Hope sermon series from Church of the Resurrection
- Good Grief: Facing Death with Hope sermon series
- Funeral Pre-Planning Form
- Journeying Through Grief - 4-part booklet resource
- When the One You Love is Gone - book on grief from Rebekah Miles
- The Love and Loss of a Child - The Caring Congregation podcast
- Grief Share is a small group setting that includes discussions and valuable guidance, leading to relief, comfort, and peace of mind.
Discipleship Ministries, the United Methodist program agency providing local church resources, endorses the idea of "Blue Christmas" services.
Acknowledging the tension in calls to celebrate despite life's distress, Discipleship Ministries staff write: "The reality is, of course, that in every Sunday morning service, in every choir rehearsal, and at every Christmas Eve candlelight service, there are people who are hurting and in pain, whose lives are in turmoil, and who seek help or answers. Even surrounded by our candles, poinsettias, the laughter of children, and the great joy of the Christmas season, can we minister to those among us who cannot enter into and share that joy this year?"
The agency suggests churches craft meditative, quiet worship services that use the more contemplative hymns of the season, such as "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" along with songs that offer hope and healing such as "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." For those churches unable or not inclined to craft an entire worship event, Discipleship Ministries also suggests including "Blue Christmas" elements in regular worship services. Prayers for comfort for those in the congregation who are suffering or are in pain or grief.
Whatever their form, "Blue Christmas" events are intended to fill two functions: recognize and comfort the sadness that can accompany the holiday season and affirm that the coming of Jesus at Christmas offers hope for a brighter future.
Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle has covered The United Methodist Church at all levels for more than 35 years. She serves as editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011l.