{"id":9533,"date":"2021-12-07T19:26:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T03:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mem-umc.org\/mem-umc\/?p=9533"},"modified":"2021-12-07T19:26:43","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T03:26:43","slug":"9533-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mem-umc.org\/mem-umc\/9533-2","title":{"rendered":"Longest Night Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longest Night Service\/Blue Christmas
\nDec 21, at 6pm
\n\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

In the midst of all the wonder, joy and celebration of Christmas,<\/span><\/strong>
\nwith its carols, parties, decorating, baking, gift giving, and family<\/span><\/strong>
\ntime, it’s easy for us to forget that in our own church there are<\/span><\/strong>
\nmany for whom the idea of Christmas joy is not part of the season<\/span><\/strong>
\nthis year.<\/span><\/strong>
\nYou are invited to join our Longest Night Service on December 21st at 6pm to pay attention to the special needs of people who are “blue” or in pain at this time. This service happens on the winter solstice, just a few days before Christmas. It is a contemplative service<\/span><\/strong>
\nthat recognizes the fact that people are in pain and blend it with the fact that Jesus came to<\/span><\/strong>
\noffer hope<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longest Night Service\/Blue Christmas Dec 21, at 6pm In the midst of all the wonder, joy and celebration of Christmas, with its carols, parties, decorating, baking, gift giving, and family time, it’s easy for us to forget that in our own church there are many for whom the idea of Christmas joy is not part […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[44,28,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-announcements","category-christmas","category-special-services","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t