Dunfermline Abbey will be holding a 'Blue Christmas' service for those struggling with the festive period this Sunday.

Those who have experienced bereavement and are struggling with illness, money worries and relationships are among those invited to attend the special advent service. 

Minister at the Abbey, the Rev MaryAnn Rennie explained: "Blue is sometimes the colour of Advent, but it's also the name of an Elvis Presley Song 'Blue Christmas'.

"Our service doesn't just focus on the bereaved but on those who feel out of sorts with the season for personal reasons. The run up to Christmas can have people struggling for all kinds of reasons - break up of and struggling with relationships, money worries, unemployment, frustration at commercialism.

"In all the churches I've been minister of they have been part of the Advent activity, and I know that selfishly they responded to personal need in 1998 when someone close to my husband Keith and I died in the weeks before Christmas.   In the midst of the parties and carols it was hard to find time to allow grief to be normal.

"We forget that grief and frustration are as much part of the Christmas story, as joy and celebration. But it is the season of all emotions and the Christ child enters the world taking part in the full breadth of human experience.

"In our service we light candles remembering the gamut of our emotions and loss experiences, not just bereavement.   We ensure though that there is a space to reflect the deaths from this year, and individual candles are also lit as we remember in specific memory.    Members of the congregation are also invited to light their own candles."

MaryAnn said the special service means people do not feel alone with their feelings.

"I often worry when people leave crying, but I am assured by those who have met me afterwards who say that they find it a space of comfort and hope, and assurance that God meets them in the emotions that they are experiencing."

The service will take place at Dunfermline Abbey at 4pm this Sunday (December 4).

The service is one of a number of special service as the historic Abbey Church during December, which will also be hosting Christingle and Watchnight services on Christmas Eve.

Further information is available at www.dunfermlineabbey.co.uk