Dear Friends,
I already waxed poetic in last week’s letter about the beauty and meaning of the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, so I won’t go on again about that, but I WILL encourage you to come by tonight to help hang flags. This is such a special moment: touching each flag, reading the names and the stories, then lovingly attaching them to the cord where they will flutter overhead. We’ll start at 6:30pm and be there until at least 8:30, so come early and eat some pizza or drop by whenever you can. You can also come by to make flags to be hung if you haven’t done that already.
Then, clear your calendar and plan to come to church at 8, 9, or 11am on Sunday! We’ll renew baptismal vows, pop champagne, and remember all who have gone ahead of us at all services. We’ll add a brass band and baptisms at the 9 and 11.
Because All Saints is such a big day around here, we won’t have another pledge activity this Sunday, but I encourage you to make your pledge right now so that the following Sunday, November 13, we can report on our pledge campaign and use that information to plan our 2023 budget on Tuesday, November 15!
As you think about your pledge, I encourage you to think about the activities of the past three weeks for the campaign. On our first Sunday, we filled out Madlibs, sharing when we first arrived at All Saints, what our first impressions of this place were, and how we would describe it to other people. The next Sunday we unfurled ribbons with the Madlibs attached; as the ribbons wove throughout the congregation, we considered how we’re all connected, all those in the past who gave so that we might be here today, and how it’s up to us to make sure the ribbons extend into the future. Last Sunday, we used post-it notes to share what we love about All Saints and the difference we hope our pledge will make for us now and those who follow at All Saints.
Whether you were here for all those Sundays or not, take some time to consider the importance of All Saints in your life, the goodness of God, and how you might be being called into generosity; then, please, make your pledge.
See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne+