[Propertalk] Fwd: Celebrating the future as well as the past on All Saints

[Joe Parrish]

There are many congregations, who, on All Saints Day, remember the members who had died during the previous year. Kennon Callahan (Dynamic Worship: Mission, Grace, Praise, and Power) raises an interesting point about this practice, and offers something in addition.
 

 
I once attended a Sunday morning worship that included a memorial service in which the congregation, once a year, remembered all those who had died during the previous year. At one point in the service the pastor thoughtfully read the names of each person who had died. As the names were read, the organ played softly in the background, and outside, the church bell tolled slowly. The service climaxed with a prayer of thanksgiving for those lives and a hymn of victory.
 
Afterward, when the pastor asked me what I thought of the service, I told him, “It was excellent, most helpful, most meaningful.” Then I asked him, “When do you do the same for each new baby born this past year, for each person who has discovered Christ during this past year, and for those who have significantly advanced God’s mission during this past year?”
 
“Oh,” he replied. “Well, when a baby is born, we place a rose on the altar.”
 
I said, “Yes. One rose, one service. And when a person dies, you often have flowers on the altar from the funeral service, and people take food over to help the family in the midst of their grief. You offer prayer for the person and the family during the illness; then you offer prayer for them on the Sunday following the funeral service. You do all these things for those experiencing grief at the end of a life. And you do this excellent memorial service once a year. You are celebrating the past. Celebrate the future as well.” [p. 89]

 
All Saints Day is a time to re-member all the saints.


[Article found by Brian Stoffregen, Faith Lutheran Church, Yuma, Arizona]



<Interesting point, yes?
I am considering reading names from our Baptismal book...
Joe Parrish, A C NJ 2012
St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA>




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20141030/284bdcef/attachment.htm>