The Advent season is such a powerful and holy opportunity—not only to prepare our hearts for Christmas but also to step beyond our walls and become visible in the community. Advent invites us to slow down, to notice longing, and to show Christ in ways that are gentle, present, and real. Sometimes the most meaningful outreach doesn’t begin with a program but with a partnership.
This past Advent, our church partnered with our local palliative care association in a simple but deeply moving way. We offered one of the spruce trees on our property to be used as part of a Christmas memorial tree initiative. There was nothing flashy about it. We simply hosted a ceremony one Sunday afternoon.
The tree itself told a story. The upper half was lit with colored lights, the bottom half with white lights. As people arrived, each person was given a colored Christmas light. One by one, they were invited to name the person they were missing and replace a white light with a colored one of their choosing. With every light changed, grief was named, love was remembered, and the tree slowly became a living testimony of loss and hope held together.
I shared a short message about grief—about how loss does not disappear during the holidays—and gently spoke about faith and God’s presence with us in sorrow. Afterward, we invited everyone inside for fellowship in our church basement. What followed was unplanned and beautiful. For the next three hours, people stayed. They talked, listened, cried, laughed, and discovered they were not alone in their grief.
At one point someone asked, “So you’re the pastor of this church?”
“Yes, I am,” I said.
“When do you have your Christmas Eve services?”
The memorial tree now shines from dawn to dusk through the end of December. Many evenings I’ve seen cars parked quietly by the tree—people sitting in our parking lot, next to our church, remembering their loved ones. Our church sign stands nearby, gently reminding them who we are and when we gather to worship.
This week, the director of the palliative care association called and asked if the tree could have a permanent home at St. Peter’s every Christmas.
“Why not?” I said.
I can’t help but wonder who might walk through our doors in the years ahead because we chose to partner with an organization outside the church. Advent reminds us that Christ comes into the world through presence, hospitality, and light—and sometimes that light begins with a single tree and a community willing to share it.
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Rick Bergh, pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Cochrane, Alberta, brings over 40 years of bi-vocational experience, blending real-world insight with ministry. Founder of the Pastoral Ministry Certificate and Shepherd Pathway programs, he helps people reframe their stories with God through books, speaking, and podcasting. He supports his wife Erica, a choral conductor for dementia choirs, and together they enjoy six grandchildren.