How do I plan worship for All Saints' Day?

All Saints' Day worship is a celebration of those who have gone before us and the gifts they have given us, and it is a call to the church to continue the work that those saints started. We might consider naming those who have died over the past year and thanking God for all they did in our community. We might also thank God for others who lived lives that were honoring and pleasing to God.

The standard prayer of thanksgiving in the communion liturgy references the communion of saints: "Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and all of creation to proclaim the glory of your name" (A Brief Form for the Celebration of Communion, Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2016). This is worth preaching on: that the worship that takes place in our sanctuaries is the earthly harmony of a heavenly melody. Many widows and widowers in the church express a longing to sing in worship with their loved one again. When we remember that the veil between heaven and earth is thinnest in our worship, we provide theological truth and pastoral comfort.

Martin Luther's claim that we are all sinners and saints at the same time is seen in this day. On All Saints' Day, we can remember the saints who have gone before us in the great cloud of witnesses and the saints with whom we continue to work today. This can be an appropriate occasion to hold the grief about the loss of saints who have died in the past year and to remember their faithfulness.

When is All Saints' Day?

November 1, often observed on the nearest Sunday

What colors do we use for All Saints' Day?

White, a color of celebration

What themes do we use for All Saints' Day worship?

• Communion of saints
• The cloud of witnesses
• Grief and comfort
• Death and resurrection
• Unity in the body

Bible passage ideas for All Saints' Day

Righteousness

All Saints' Day is an opportunity to teach the difference between imputed righteousness and earned righteousness. We may, by our actions, be proven righteous. This is an earned righteousness, and it is what we most often think of when we hear the word saint. However, imputed righteousness is the doctrine that we are considered righteous because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross. We stand in the shadow, as it were, of Jesus's righteousness, and that righteousness is credited to us. All Christians—all who believe that Jesus's death pays the penalty of their sin—receive the righteousness of Christ and are, therefore, saints.

• Daniel 7:1–3, 15–18, righteous ones will receive the kingdom
• Matthew 5:1–12, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake
• Luke 6:20–31, be righteous
• Philippians 1:9–11, a harvest of righteousness
• Hebrews 11:1–12:13, becoming heir to righteousness by faith

Children of God

• 1 John 3:1–3, we are God's children
• Revelation 21:1–7, those who conquer will be my children

Grief and the comfort of eternal life

Although God promises the gift of eternal life to those who believe in him, the psalms remind us that we are also to tell the truth about grief and loss. Maybe a parent or grandparent has died in the past year. Maybe a death that happened long ago forever altered the course of a person's life. Maybe one's grief is silent, as often is true with a miscarriage. All Saints' Sunday is a beautiful time to invite people to light candles to remember, to tell the truth about loss, and to do all of that within the supportive community of the church and under the reign of our King, who once grieved at the tomb of a friend.

• Psalm 13, how long must I bear pain in my soul
• Psalm 22, asking the Lord to stay close
• Psalm 55, asking God to hear our grief
• Psalm 77, crying to God
• Psalm 86, asking God to listen to our grief
• Psalm 116:12–15, faithful death is precious to God
• Isaiah 25:6–9, God will wipe away the tears from all faces
• John 14:1–3, God has a place prepared for you
• Romans 8:37–39, we are more than conquerors through Christ
• Revelation 7:9–17, they who have come out of the great ordeal will no longer suffer
• Revelation 21:1–7, God will wipe away every tear

The body of Christ

It has always been God's plan to work through people to accomplish God's purpose. Stories of God's work teach us about who God is, about what we are to value as members of Christ's kingdom, and about how, by the Spirit's power, we too are able to contribute to God's good work in the world.

• Psalm 24, the company of those who seek God
• Romans 12, we belong to each other
• 1 Corinthians 12:20–27; 13:1–7, we all are the body of Christ
• Ephesians 1:11–23, love towards all the saints
• Ephesians 4:1–16, united in Christ, the body grows in love
• Colossians 3:1–17, called to peace as members of one body
• 2 Timothy 1:3–5, a mother's and grandmother's faith