Dec. 21 – Homeless Person’s Memorial Service

The longest day of the year . . . also one of the saddest.

A group of local citizens and faith communities, led by Madison-area Urban Ministry, Community Action Coalition and Madison’s Homeless Initiative, will remember and celebrate the lives members of our community who were homeless who have died this year. We will honor them in our Third Annual Homeless Person’s Memorial Service.

We are holding the vigil on December 21st, the longest night of the year. The vigil and Memorial Service will last for one hour and will memorialize the passing of homeless individuals, offering their family and friends the opportunity to mourn their loss and celebrate their life. It will also offer individuals who are homeless who may have lost a loved one this year the opportunity to remember their loved ones.

The vigil and Service will take place on the Capitol Square from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 2010. We will be gathering at the first marble bench at the intersection of East Main Street, South Pinckney Street, and King Street. We will begin at 4:00 p.m. with gathering music, at 4:15 we will hear from two individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness who will talk about grief and loss. At 4:25 the Memorial Service will begin. The Reverends Dean Kirst of Lakeview Lutheran Church and Eldonna Hazen of First Congregational Church will be officiating. We invite you to share with us the names of individuals that you have known who have died this year so that we may include their names in the service. At 4:55 p.m. the service will conclude and those who would like to walk silently to the Men’s Shelter at Grace as the shelter doors open may do so.

Members of James Reeb Unitarian Church will have warm hats, gloves and scarves for those in need of warm winter clothing. We invite your congregation to bring small bags of homemade treats that can be shared with the men and women currently using the shelter system.

Please feel free to contact me should you wish to talk more about the event. I may be contacted at Madison-area Urban Ministry, 608-256-0906, or at linda@emum.org.

Linda Ketcham