COEUR d'ALENE - Joanie Dwyer said she always sees an increase in people coming to Lake City Community Church for grief counseling in the weeks leading to the holiday season.

"It's usually when people start feeling it a lot and just want the holidays to go away," said Dwyer, leader of the church's bereavement program. "They're often seeking help at that point because they don't know how they are going to get through it."

In light of this increased need in the community, the church started holding an annual Ceremony of Remembrance the first weekend in December. The event, in its 11th year, serves as a way for people to gather and honor friends and family members who are no longer here.

This year the ceremony will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon, Dec. 6, and residents from all walks of life are encouraged to attend.

Pastor Rodney Wright said the ceremony was started as a companion event to the church's grief release program, which has worked with more than 2,000 community members in its 13-year history.

"We do it (the grief release program) for the community, not just for the church," Wright said. "It's a five-week class that really educates people on grief. It has a support component to it, but it's more about education and learning about grief. It's a great resource for our community."

The ceremony on Dec. 6 will begin with a free continental breakfast. Then, the names of lost loved ones will be read and attendees will be able to honor their loved ones by hanging memorial Christmas ornaments in their honor.

"I think when you call someone's name and you share the story, you keep their story alive," Wright said. "It's a place where people can laugh with the good memories and also cry. It's a place that can be what it needs to be for people."

Paul Young, the author of "The Shack," will be this year's guest speaker. Wright said he became friends with the author prior to the release of the best-selling book.

The book, according to Wright, represents the deepest place of sorrow in our hearts and was written by Young as a way to process his own grief.

"I think it's helped people kind of wrap their brain around the fact that God is for us and not against us," Wright said. "That God wants to help us with the most difficult things in life and understands our pain. It's hopeful and moving and powerful because it touches the human heart. Sorrow isn't something any of us can escape during our life."

Dwyer encouraged those interested in attending the ceremony to register at www.lakecitycc.org/ceremony or call (208) 676-0632. Registering allows the church to get an accurate count of how many people it will be feeding and gives attendees the opportunity to add the names they would like read, she added.

"The ceremony is really a place - especially during a holiday where you are with people who don't know what to say to you and you don't want to ruin their time - where you're there to remember your loved ones," Dwyer said. "You're sharing with people who you know have been in the same boat.

"Then, when we read the names and you hang the ornament on the tree, you can stand there and really think about that person instead of avoiding those feelings. It's really an important part of processing that loss."