Pastor’s Corner: All Saints Sunday

October 4, 2023

It’s still some weeks away, but this is a good time to think about our All Saints Sunday observance on October 29.

During that service, we read the names of people who have died during the previous year, ring the church bell, and a family member or friend lights a candle in honor of that person. When we have read all the names, we invite worshipers to come forward to light candles for others whose memory they treasure. Those people may have died many years before, but we still show our love for them.

Last year, we changed this practice somewhat. The names we read included several people who had died before that year. We did this because we wanted to remember people who had died during the pandemic as we gathered together. 2020 and 2021 forced such limited attendance at funerals and memorial services that we sought to bring comfort in this larger congregation.

This year we plan to return to our previous practice, and read the names of those who died between the end of last October and this All Saints Day. We will shortly send word to those families inviting them to come and light a candle for their loved one. We invite everyone to be prepared to light candles for those they lost long ago, for whom we rang the bell at a previous All Saints Service.

If you have suffered a loss in the last year and would like their name to be read, please call the office at (808) 935-1283 so we can add them to the bulletin.

May God bless us with loving memory and the constant presence of the Holy Spirit.

In peace,

Pastor Eric