One of the toughest things that people face heading into the holiday seasons is loss and grief. A simple way that we’ve shown people that we care at the beginning of the Christmas season is to pause in the service, pray and offer a white rose to anyone who lost a loved one over the course of the past year. It may seem a little corny, old-school or whatever, but is truly helps folks to realize that they’re not alone in their pain. I lost my mom a few years ago, and it was a very meaningful moment to feel the care and love from the rest of the congregation.
At Northview, we take it a step further, and have a special service called “Glowing Memories,” led by our Pastoral Care Pastor. It’s a short, somber and quiet candlelight service (although the candlelight is LED these days). It’s amazing how many people come – and what a positive catharsis it is!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Published by creativeworshipideas
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
View all posts by creativeworshipideas
creativeworshipideas 
Acknowledging those who have lost dear loved ones is never corny. I’m sure it means a lot to them.