In the quiet of a small country church this evening, a Christmas story like no other will unfold.

“A Christmas Offertory,” penned by the Rev. Bradley Wirth nearly 20 years ago, is a poignant tale of a homeless man and a group of animals drawn together under unusual circumstances one Christmas Eve.

On its surface, the story is a whimsical narrative about a group of God’s creatures down on their luck and the support they find from one another. Underneath the fictional fabric of the book is a layer of Wirth’s own life.

“When I finished writing it, I thought that in many ways this is my story,” said Wirth, who has served All Saints’ Episcopal Church for the past 10 years. “I can’t read it without recalling the extraordinary people who were part of my life.”

Wirth has been an Episcopal priest for 34 years, serving in urban inner-city, suburban and rural churches, as well as working for five years as the chief assistant to the bishop of Utah.

His scholarship is deep and broad, including a Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an emphasis in systematic theology and rhetorical criticism of early Christian documents.

What ultimately shaped his life, though, was not academics but rather the vulnerability of the human condition.

Long before he was ordained a priest, he battled a form of depression that nearly debilitated him.

“In 1966 I developed a form of depression that manifested itself as a panic disorder,” he recalled. “I thought I was going to be disabled.”

Wirth finally found a doctor who treated him with antidepressants “and two weeks later I had my life back.” He continued on medication for more than 20 years until whatever chemical imbalance that gripped him corrected itself.

The outcome of that episode would never leave Wirth as he worked with people with mental illness, some of whom were homeless or transients.

“I understood deeply what folks were going through,” Wirth said, talking in particular about his time as a priest in Salt Lake City during the 1980s. “Those experiences enter into this book.”

Wirth’s book also embraces another very important part of his life: His love of animals.

“They’re these gifts from God to us,” he said about animals, petting his own dog, Little Bear, who was rescued from a shelter.

Wirth conducts an annual Blessing of the Animals ceremony, and All Saints’ columbarium near the church holds the ashes of both parishioners and pets.

Many years ago Wirth and a friend worked through the governing structure of the Episcopal Church to establish a burial service for animals.

Reading “A Christmas Offertory” has become part of the church’s Christmas season tradition. Advent, the Christian season of preparation that includes four Sundays before Christmas, is a quiet, contemplative time of year to do the reading, Wirth said.

“It’s a nice break from the festive things going on,” he said.

This time of year can be difficult for many people, and that’s another reason Wirth chooses to tell his story in early December.

“I am acutely aware that at Christmas, not everyone is merry,” he said. “For those who are blue or despondent at the holidays, it’s so essential they know they fit in. And you never know how much you rely on people until the going gets tough.

“It comes down to vulnerability,” he continued. “When you embrace it as a gift from God, others can enter your life.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.