SHARON Jacobs was ordained in February, and has made it her mission to put her own mark on Tuggeranong Uniting Church’s “Blue Christmas” service.

“I lost my husband six years ago to aggressive stomach cancer,” she says.

“I recognise the joy in Christmas, but there is a depth in joy that even when grieving one can find the strength to acknowledge.

“At the Blue Christmas service, we’ll be acknowledging the profound nature of Christmas, and that Christ is love.

“It’s a service for people who are happy to reach out to that quiet love in their hearts, and we’ll just let the spirit move where it does.”

Sharon, 61, says there won’t be singing of joyful carols, and there won’t be loud and boisterous prayers.

“It’s a service for people who may have lost a loved one, a companion or suffered in recent bushfires or floods, or maybe for people who have a partner with dementia, or perhaps even for people who are neurodiverse and just want something quieter,” she says.

“We may involve people in the lighting of candles, and in the providing of tissues, hopefully leaving them with hope and courage within themselves.

“The world is a mess right now, with Israel and Gaza, and the destruction or damage of climate change, even the cost-of-living crisis, so I believe there is an increased need for a Blue Christmas service this year.”

Sharon knows that not everyone is comfortable with crying in public.

“I know a few people will be aware of their grief in the lead up to Christmas,” she says.

“But they may not wish to come because they might cry in public.

“We have a number of men who have lost their wives recently, and we know they will have quiet moments at home, so perhaps they can take an opportunity, a moment in their own space, while the Blue Christmas service happens.”

Having grown up in NZ, Sharon has lived in Canberra since 2006.

“I have a BSc in botany and a BA in zoology from Victoria University of Wellington (VUW),” she says.

“I was the Anglican Lay – unordained – or Student Chaplain at VUW for two years,” she says.

“I met Kerry, my husband, in my second year.

“He was initially headhunted by Edinburgh University – he was an accountant – but I used to say he was more a sociologist. 

“He looked into, for example, how teachers become principals or how doctors become clinicians, how people were trained in accounting systems to enable them to become more.”

Eventually, Kerry was headhunted by the Australian National University, where they made Australia their home.

“We have two children, they live in Canberra too, and often come to my services to help out,” she says.

Sharon says the hardest part is not having Kerry by her side.

“I’m doing this ministry on my own, when I had expected to have somebody else there beside me, we made a jolly good team,” she says.

“He would be proud of me.

“I understand the need for a Blue Christmas service, it’s an important thing and I am honoured to be trusted with running the service.”

Sharon says it’s a wonderful congregation to work with, everyone turns up with enthusiasm.

“We are the only Uniting Church on the south side hosting a Blue Christmas service this year, and it’s on December 13 at 7pm,” she says.

“We are here to show the love of God, enabling people to have some kind of healing through Blue Christmas, for people who are finding Christmas to be a difficult time, acknowledging their grief and I think that’s very important,” she says.

“We don’t share in the belief that if you’re Christian, life will be perfect, because it never is. We preach to remind people in troubled times, God will be with you, you will not be alone.”

Blue Christmas service, Tuggeranong Uniting Church, 17 Comrie Street, Wanniassa, 7pm, December 13.