The "Longest Night" service at Saguaro is for you if you're experiencing grief, sorrow, sadness, or loss. We'll remember, pray, and heal together through love and hope.

Click the play button below and follow along with the script from the in-person service that was held on December 21, 2021.

THE GATHERING OF THE COMMUNITY

Welcome and Statement of Purpose Rev. Kelley Dick

We gather here in the protective shelter of God’s healing love. We are free to pour out our grief, to release our anger, to face our emptiness, to feel our hurt, and to know that through it all, God cares. We gather in community to remind us that even though we might feel alone, we are not alone. God is always with us, so we draw support from the gathered community. While for many the holidays are SO full of joy, try as we may that isn’t the case for us all. We are grateful for your presence here this evening and we pray that you might leave here knowing that God’s love is deep and wide and your pain is real. We join in worship on the Winter’s Solstice, the Longest Night of the Year.

Call to Worship Keith Koster

Leader: The Grace of our Lord Jesus the Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

People: And also with you.

Leader: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow, a light has shone. For the yoke that was weighing upon them, and the burden upon their shoulders, you have broken in pieces, 0 God, our Redeemer.

Let us pray:

People: God of mercy, hear our prayer in this Advent season for ourselves and for our families who live with painful thoughts and memories. We ask for strength for today, courage for tomorrow and peace for the past. We ask these things in the name of your Christ, who shares our life in joy and sorrow, death and new birth, despair and promise. Amen.

Opening Poem Rev. Kelley Dick

As we gather our hearts in this space, I invite you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Inhale what is good. Exhale what is hurting. As we settle into this service of prayer and reflection together, we begin with a poem written by Rev. Sarah Are Speed. Listen now to this honest reflection, and allow this honesty to mark this space as one set apart.”

We are raw nerves, exposed and tender.

We are weary bones, hunched and fragile.

We are silent prayers, lips saying your name.

We are wedding rings we can’t take off, even though time has passed.

We are the same pew, but it feels different now.

We are a brave face when we have to be strong.

We are tears in the shower when grief roars its head.

We are setting the table, but there are empty seats.

We are stuck in the swell, caught in the storm.

We are moving on, caught in our guilt.

We are okay some days, but some days we’re not.

We are familiar with the night, we know it by name.

We are night-walkers, dream-makers, star-chasers.

We are close to home, but home has changed.

We are close to the surface, but the waters are rising.

We are all of this, plus everything else, and we are here.

We are here.

Grief is here.

God is here.

The night is here.

And all of this is true,

and we are not alone.

Take my hand.

Take these words.

Let them be your life raft.

Let this be the longest night,

and let it be

whatever you need it to be.

We are here.

Grief is here.

God is here.

Take what you need.

Amen.

THE LITURGY OF SCRIPTURE

A Reading from the book of Isaiah (40:1, 25-31) Keith Koster

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

To whom then will you compare me,

or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see:

Who created these?

He who brings out their host and numbers them,

calling them all by name;

because he is great in strength, mighty in power,

not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

‘My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God’?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary,

and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint.

Leader: May God add God’s Blessing to these words.

People: Amen

A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew (11:28-30) Rev. Kelley Dick

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Leader: May God add God’s Blessing to these words.

People: Amen

Hymn: “Comfort, Comfort You My People”

Comfort, comfort you my people

Tell of peace, thus says our God

Comfort those who sit in darkness

Bowed beneath oppression's load

Speak to you Jerusalem

Of the peace that waits for them

Tell them that their sins I cover

And their warfare now is over.

A LITURGY OF REMEMBRANCE

Lighting of Four Advent Candles

First Candle: Rev. Kelley Dick

Leader: The first candle we light to remember those persons whom we have loved and lost.

We pause to remember their name, their voice, their face, the memory that binds them to us in this season. We hold them before God, giving thanks for their lives in ours.

Please take a moment to remember those who have died. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts….

All: Lord, each of us takes our loved one by the hand and leads them to you, the God of love, Here we present them to you. Accept our love and thanksgiving as we entrust them to your loving care. We want our loved ones to be free at home with you. We ask that you save a place for us beside them. We ask that you fill us with motivation and energy in the days ahead when we feel like giving up; remind us often of our true homeland when we are caught up in the desolation of the journey. Help us to find joy in the people, events and the beauty of nature which surrounds us.

Thank you for the gift each of these people has been in our lives. We want to believe that we will celebrate the treasure of love with them again, when we are all in your presence forever. May this truth sustain us in the days to come. Take our sad and aching hearts and comfort us. Comfort us, for we only feel hollowness and emptiness. God of sorrowing, draw near! Amen.

Hymn: “O come, O come, Emmanuel”

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer

our spirits by thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Second Candle: Keith Koster

Leader: The second candle we light is to redeem the pain of loss; the loss of relationships, the loss of jobs with the security they bring, the loss of health in ourselves or in family members, the loss of joy and peace in our lives from the stresses which surround us, the loss and loneliness we experience when our loved ones do not share our faith, the loss of the way the world changed, due to COVID-19. As we gather up the pain of the past we offer it to you, O God, asking that into our open hands you will place the gift of peace.

Please take a moment to remember the losses. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts….

All: God of mystery, we turn our hearts to you. We come before you in need of peace, grateful for the mystery of life and ever keenly aware of your promises of guidance and protection. We want to place our trust in you, but our hearts grow fearful and anxious. We forget so easily that you will be with us in all that we experience. Teach us to be patient with the transformation of our lives and to be open to the changes which we are now going through. Amen.

Hymn: “O come, O come, Emmanuel”

O come, thou Key of David, come,

and open wide our heavenly home;

make safe the way that leads on high,

and close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Third Candle: Rev. Kelley Dick

Leader: The third candle we light for those who experience a loss of direction in their lives. God of the Exodus, you led Moses and your people through the wilderness to a new land. Hear our prayer. We want so much to have a sense of direction, to know where we are and where we ought to be headed. But the darkness and the questions stay. You ask us to be full of faith, to believe deep within that you are our signpost, that you are our wisdom and our guide, and to trust in your presence. Your words to us are clear: “Do not fear, I go before you.”

All: God of our depths, we cry out to you to be our guide. Help us to have a strong sense of inner direction and grant that we may have the reassurance of knowing that we are on the right path. Take our lives and use them according to your will. Take all that is lost in us and bring it home with you. Amen.

Hymn: “I Wonder as I Wander”

I wonder as I wander out under the sky

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die

For poor ordinary people like you and like I

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

Fourth Candle: Keith Koster

Leader: The fourth candle we light as a sign of hope, the hope that the Christmas story offers to us. We remember that God, who shares our life, promises us a place and time of no more pain and suffering.

All: O God whose spirit is known by those whose hearts are thankful, and who makes cheerfulness a companion of strength, lift up our hearts, we pray, to a joyous confidence in your care. Guide us when we cannot see the way. Teach us to know that a shadow is only a shadow, because the light of eternal goodness shines behind the object of our fears. Where there is love in life, teach us to find it; help us to trust it and enable us to grow in the power of love. So may our lives bring comfort and encouragement to others. We ask it, in the name of Jesus Christ whose life is our light. Amen.

Hymn: “Amazing Grace”

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a soul like me

I once was lost, but now am found

Was blind, but now I see.

Prayer Stations Rev. Kelley Dick

Leader: Each of us comes bearing our own hurts, sorrows, broken places. I want to invite each of you to offer your personal wound to the God who loves each of us deeply and wants to carry our pain. God waits patiently, gently calling out: “Give me your pain, come to me… all who labor and are heavy laden, I will refresh you!”

I invite each of you to come forward and light a candle and move throughout the space.

As you light the candle, remember that it is God who lights a candle in our darkness and holds us close until we are able to shine.

Naming

There is power in naming. Choose one of these prompts, write your answer and then pray

“Thank you, God you are my beginning and my ending, to you I offer this prayer.”

1) Write five words that describe how you’re feeling in this moment.

2) Write down the names of people you carry in your heart today.

3) Write down your prayers for our world.

Visio Divina

Visio Divina is translated as “divine seeing”. It is related to the prayer form Lectio Divina (divine reading), but instead of Scripture, this form of prayer uses visual elements to help set your mind on prayer. This allows God to speak into your heart through the image.

Pray with Kelley

Meet Kelley toward the back of the sanctuary for a time of prayer. You may choose to be anointed with oil or share in a prayer.

Communion

Fuel for your journey

We remember on the night before Jesus was betrayed. He gathered with his friends for a meal. He took bread and after blessing it he broke it and shared with it saying “This is my body broken for you” and in the same way he took a cup. After giving thanks for it he shared with his disciples saying this is my blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup you remember Jesus’ life, we know that he has died and yet, we can celebrate that Christ is risen and among us.

Return to your seat when you are ready

Prayers of the People Keith Koster

O come, Emmanuel.

Flood our grieving hearts.

Pour out your Spirit on this world.

Where there is suffering, loneliness, poverty, abuse, addiction, depression—be there.

Be all there.

Wrap your arms around those hurting places, and carry us to your promised day.

God, we need you in the messy middles, in the unclear paths forward, the transition seasons, and the splinterings of what once was.

God, we need you in the grieving places, in the dining rooms with empty chairs, in the empty wombs, and in the dark of the tomb.

God, we need you in our failed dreams, in shame that rises quickly, in the unknown next steps, in the discernment that is always easier said than done.

For all who have a song they cannot sing,

For all who have a burden they cannot bear,

For all who live in chains they cannot break,

For all who wander homeless and cannot return,

For all who wait for loved ones, For those who live in hunger,

And for those who will not share their bread,

For those who are misunderstood,

And for those who misunderstand

God we need you now, as we prepare to go back out into the world.

Show us your way this day and all days. Amen

Closing Words

As we gather this evening, we embrace and claim the darkness that is present both in the world and in our own lives. As people who are familiar with the darkness, we also know that we gather to be illumined by the light of the Christ Child this Christmas season. May the Christ Child, born in a lowly stable, himself an outcast and mar0ginale, bring light, comfort, peace, and joy this holiday season.