- "The Longest Night" service helps individuals navigate grief, loss, and mental health struggles during the holidays.
- Pastor Jessica McCracken provides a peaceful, silent space for neighbors to honor their emotions and find release.
- Watch the video above for more on how the service impacts the community.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
While some will find everything they wished for under the tree this holiday season, others will feel the absence of loved ones. I’m your neighborhood reporter, Russell Shellberg, here in St. Johns showing you how one service is proving the greatest gifts can’t always be wrapped.
In a quiet room, neighbors gathered for a moment of silence ahead of the holidays. I met with Pastor Jessica McCracken ahead of the service to talk about its impact.
"This is called The Longest Night. It's a recognition that Christmas is a wonderful time, but it's not wonderful for everyone," said McCracken.
In its second year, Pastor McCracken uses the service to give neighbors a chance to find peace and stillness before the holidays.
"Sometimes we need to honor the ones we’ve lost, maybe recently or even a few years ago. Broken relationships, mental health struggles, addiction," said McCracken.
McCracken told me that whatever neighbors are struggling with, The Longest Night is a space for release.
"We're not made to ignore our grief, our sorrow, our frustration. It’s going to build up, and it’s going to come out in some way—and usually, when it does, it doesn’t come out in healthy ways," said McCracken.
As the service continued, neighbors sat in the same silence they arrived in, taking in the quiet. McCracken reminded me that no matter if 100 people or just one person sits in the room, the message remains the same.
"No matter how much we’re struggling, we’re still here, and we’ve made it another day," said McCracken.
McCracken also shared that Gracepointe Church in St. Johns will soon become its own separate church renamed Compassion Church in January.
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