The whole town and everyone in the area is warmly welcomed to “Blue Christmas—2011”.  This is a quiet hour of “time out” on the darkest day of our year.  It is an occasion for putting our grief and losses, individually and as a community, into the context of non-commercialized Christmas peace and New Year’s hope.  The multi-denominational team, headed up by the Reverend Ray Turner, will again open the doors of the historic “Oliver Lutheran Centre” (former “St. John’s”) on December 21, at 7 pm.  There will be guitar music, quiet reflection, candle light: a chance to re-focus, to let go of what burdens us and to renew hope.  You will also be invited to enjoy some refreshments afterwards, compliments of Nunes-Pottinger, as per tradition. For most of us, the shared experience of losing our iconic school to a senseless fire on September 12, 2011, is a heart-wrenching reminder of how quickly our lives can take an unexpected “down-turn”. The personal lives of many among us are similarly thrown off course by illness, death of a loved one, depression, breakdown of relationships, news of an unstable world, and many other events or challenges that threaten to overwhelm us. We become aware in such darkness and loss of how allowing ourselves to be supported and helped by each other is a precious gift.  We are often helped by someone quietly, steadily, being at our side through it all. Many folks who came to the Blue Christmas in the past years have told us that they they like to come back every year. They feel strengthened by a Christmas service in which they don’t  need to “pretend” that all is well with them (or their loved ones, or even our local or global communities). “Blue Christmas” becomes an opportunity for us all to acknowledge the darkness and rediscover the possibilities of  newness, gentle healing and quiet joy. Everyone, church-related or not, is invited to come out to spend Blue Christmas with us, on the Wednesday evening before the Christmas weekend. Four of our local church groups are joining their efforts to offer this service to the wider community. They are the Oliver United, Christ the King Catholic, St. Edward’s Anglican and the Oliver Lutheran Centre, where it will be held. That is the small white traditional-looking church with the green roof and steeple tucked away near Earle Crescent. (From Main St. turn West by the Legion onto Veterans Ave. , go two blocks up and turn north onto Okanagan St. ).

Contributed by Brita Park