Our 10 o’clock Eucharist will be live-streamed to YouTube. The stream will begin at 9:45, with a welcome and then about fifteen minutes of prelude music, The service will begin at 10 am. You can also take part in the service at a later time.
The order of services is available here.
This Sunday we celebrate one of the seven great feasts of the Church–the Feast of All Saints. We’ll hear a portion of the Revelation to Saint John describing a vision of the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21.1-6), and the story of Mary and Martha mourning the death of their brother Lazarus (John 11.32-44).
It’s a poignant festival, marked by both our very real grief over the death of those we love and by our hope of resurrection to new life through Jesus. Those attending the service in person are invited to bring pictures of loved ones to place on the memorial table. Here’s how Sundays and Seasons makes sense of this week’s readings.
Of all three years of the lectionary cycle, this year’s All Saints readings have the most tears. Isaiah and Revelation look forward to the day when God will wipe away all tears; in John’s gospel, Jesus weeps along with Mary and all the gathered mourners before he demonstrates his power over death. On All Saints Day we celebrate the victory won for all the faithful dead, but we grieve for our beloved dead as well, knowing that God honours our tears. We bring our grief to the table and find there a foretaste of Isaiah’s feast to come.