By Paul Kelly

For many of us, the Christmas holidays (holy-days) are the most happy and meaningful days of the year. Unfortunately, that is not true for everyone. The days of gift-giving, feasting, and celebrating, some people struggle with their worst experiences of depression of the year. Why do so many people deal with depression at the holidays? And how can your youth ministry help?

Christmas is the celebration of the advent of the Christ, and our celebration of it is wrapped up in family. That may be the source of the problem for many people.

• Broken families create a sense of dysfunction that makes the holidays feel hollow.
• Loss of family members to death through the previous year make Christmas feel more lonely.
• Disappointment over family not turning out as expected feels particularly acute during Christmas.

So, how can your youth ministry make a difference?

1. Take note of those who have lost loved ones in your congregation. Take your youth group to visit them to carole or deliver cookies. What you do is not all that important. What matters is showing extra love to those who are missing a spouse, a parent, or a child.
2. Plan some special events for your youth. Christmas can be very busy for you and other adults. It may be easiest to avoid special events for youth because of everything else that is going on. But some teenagers in your group may have more of a sense of family in the youth group than they do in their home. Little gifts your youth ministry gives to students may be the most thoughtful gifts some students receive. Time to sing around a piano or bake cookies together may be the only opportunity some of your students get to do things like these.
3. Create opportunities for students to give to others during the Christmas season. Teenagers need to be taught the old lesson that to give is more blessed than to receive. But it may be especially important for students who are disappointed with what their family does for them at Christmas. Learning the increased blessing of helping others at Christmas can help students to find joy by getting their focus on others.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. It is also a wonderful time to minister to the people in your community. Even though you have a lot going on, give some thought to what will help those who are having a sad Christmas in your church.