All Saints Day - Nov. 4, 2023

 
Today is All Saints Day and I have to say that this time of remembering our saints was powerful. We set up easels with the pictures of Soldotna UMC saints. After all I served this congregation 30 years ago.  I know these saints, their voices, their personalities, their love. When people came forward for communion they were surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. We lit candles and prayed. And I found myself strangely warm to this idea of institutional church.  

Truth is I have had my doubts about the future of the Church. Four years of retirement and the pandemic served to put some distance between the Church and me. But I find myself in the pastoral role again. During the prelude to the communion liturgy I talked about the communion table being a symbol of the heavenly banquet table. I invited people to imagine them sitting at this table enjoying the gifts of God’s bounty. Sitting across the table and next to them were people who died. There was conversation and joy and laughter.

Now imagine your table today. There are empty chairs. People we love and miss. People who no longer stop by for dinner or come for the holidays. We grieve those empty chairs. But know that in Christ, our separation is only a temporary thing.

“Our separation is only a temporary thing.” In that liturgical moment I made the connection between all the ministry minutia we pastors invest in our congregations. It’s not glamorous work and it can even be difficult and tedious. But in that God-moment it all made sense. These kinds of worship experiences don’t just happen on their own. They happen in faith communities that invest in the infrastructure of Church. They happen when worship is the work of the people (the meaning of liturgy).

Church will continue to be fallable and leaders will wonder if it is worth our time and energy. But when those holy moments break open our hearts and draw us closer to the love of God in Christ it is definitely worth it!