We mark All Hallowtide with two services of particular remembrance and thanksgiving for the communion of saints and the eternal rest of our dearly departed ones.
9am AEST Sunday Worship:
We are invited to remember our loved ones, who have gone home to God ahead of us, in a memorial component to the service.
Please send in pictures and dates of your dearly departed ones for remembering.
6pm AEST All Hallows Contemplation:
We will draw ourselves into reflection on the communion of saints and give thanks to God for the promise made to us in the new covenant – that one day we will join the heavenly host and remain in God's peace for eternity.
Please feel welcome to bring a candle (digital or real) along to the contemplative service.
Some learning for us all:
Why are we celebrating this festival - it's pagan and materialistic, isn't it?
Sometimes we Christians have avoided celebrating Halloween (or 'All Hallows Eve' – a hallow is a saint), maybe for reasons of concern around historical pagan traditions or becasue we don't want to support the growing commercialism that drives people to 'buy in' to holidays.
But are we missing a trick? As Christians, we shouldn’t be afraid to acknowledge darkness and evil. At Halloween (31st Oct), the night before All Hallows Day when Christians remember saints who have died, we have a unique opportunity to explore fear and death from a Christian perspective.
Christians can be wary of making light of dark matters – feeling it somehow gives evil a foothold. But what if the opposite is true? Could laughing at what is meant to scare us be the best way to strip it of its power? By putting on an event at Halloween that acknowledges darkness and the reality of death, we make space for us all to face fears around death and find reassurance that God is greater, and that darkness will never extinguish God’s light.
A bit more about saints:
In the Bible, 'saints' is another word for Christians, or followers of Jesus. So, all of us who follow Jesus can be called saints. In some churches, the phrase 'the communion of saints' is used. This talks about the way that all Christians – both those who are alive now and those who have already died – belong together in God's kingdom. Later on in history, the word 'saint' came to be used of people who were especially holy. Many of our Holy Hermits are recognised as saints.
Our featured Holy Hermit Julian of Norwich (who is a saint herself) says this:
"We know these saints stories, we know that they sinned during their lives on Earth, and yet we do not think less of them, for we know that in the end, all was turned to their eternal benefit and worth."
To be holy and live as a saint does not mean to be without sin, but rather to live in close relationship with God – something we are called to strive for together in community.