HOLIDAY SERVICE OF HOPE

For over twenty years, the downtown churches of Raleigh have co-hosted a Holiday Service of Hope and Remembrance to provide space for those who have known loss to acknowledge their grief openly, to experience the encouragement of fellow believers, and to find comfort in the assurances of our faith. COVID shut us down for a couple years, and then we resumed this shared experience, but this year, three downtown churches are in the midst of pastoral transitions and thus unable to participate.

As a result, we are going to hold our own service on Thursday, November 21, at 7pm. We will include some traditional elements. We will read texts of assurance and pray for all dealing with loss, Music Made in Heaven will play, and we will remember loved ones we have lost. But we will do the latter in a slightly different way, gathering near the front of the sanctuary and lighting candles in memory of these loved ones. Everyone is invited to attend whether you are in need of healing or willing to offer support to others, and it is fine to invite friends who have known loss. This is not an exclusive service, just one that we are shaping as one congregation this year. We hope to return to a shared experience in 2025.