October 31, 2025
All Saints Sunday
When Christianity expanded from the Middle East to Europe, it encountered people whose religious beliefs and practices were different than those in in the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures out of which it arose. In particular, the encounters with the Germanic people of Northern Europe, who invaded the Roman Empire leading to its collapse, and were later were introduced to the Christian faith by missionaries, forced Christianity to translate its faith with people of very different practices and beliefs.
For Northern Europeans, like we in the Pacific Northwest, the month of November initiated a season of dark and became for them a season of death: a time to fear death and the spirits of the dead. Christian evangelists “baptized” this season by celebrating the hope of resurrection and proclaiming the victory over death that is given to the dead in Christ. This became the touchstone of what we now call “All Saints Day.” All Saints Day is commemorated November 1. We, like many churches, celebrate All Saints on the Sunday of or after November 1. It is a time we remember with fondness and grief those who have died since the last All Saints Sunday, as well as those whose deaths still leave an absence in our lives and hearts for more than just the past year.
For those of you who read this and have never been to an All Saints service at our church, this is what you could expect. People are encouraged to bring a photograph of a loved one to the service to put on a table in the chancel by our Communion Table. One can do this before the service or at a time designated in the service (though the earlier you put it on display, the easier it will be, as those tables will get full quickly!). Names of the “saints” we are remembering have been printed in the bulletin. In the service will name each person and toll a bell in their memory. We will first name those who have died since last year and then people who died longer ago. If a person has a loved one they would like to remember, but whose name was not in the bulletin, people can add their names by speaking them out. After this, people will be invited to come forward to light a candle on behalf of their loved ones, echoing the promise that death never fully extinguishes the life of the deceased faithful (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). We will then celebrate our unbroken communion in Christ between the living and dead by celebrating the Lord’s Supper, a foreshadowing of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb in John’s Revelation where faithful women and men from every age and every land will gather at a table in the season of resurrection. (Revelation 19:6-10)
But as they used to say on television commercials in the 1960s, “But that’s not all…” This particular All Saints Sunday we also will have an opportunity celebrate a Covenant “saint” and his legacy. This Sunday Rev. Kent Egging will be our guest. He is a representative of the Covenant’s Paul Carlson Partnership. He will both introduce us to Paul Carlson, his sacrificial work in Zaire/Congo, and the incredible organization the exists in his honor. Kent will be speaking after worship in our Fellowship Hall about the Paul Carlson Partnership. This is a short presentation you won’t want to miss. In some ways PCP is one of the Covenant’s best kept secrets. This whole day will inspire all of we saints to do the work that God has given us to do with both confidence and enthusiasm.
A blessed All Saints to you all,
~ Pastor Todd
P.S. As I write this, I am in Illinois with Susan and her sister in their childhood home, caring for her mother. Susan’s mother (Grandma Vi) has gone from very conversant to almost unresponsive. Prayers for all of us who grieve her transition to “sainthood” and both the joy and the pain that will bring, are most welcome. I am disappointed I cannot be with you this Sunday. I especially wish I could introduce Kent Egging to you all. Forty years ago, Kent and I were in the Fall quarter of our Senior year of seminary at North Park. He is a delightful person of faith, joy, and integrity. Please enjoy him for me.