All Saints Day
Regardless of your faith tradition, everyone dies in the end.
Despite suburban yards full of styrofoam tombstones, Hallowe’en seldom contributes to meaningful conversations about death and dying. (If your tradition celebrates Reformation Day on October 31, God has given you an opportunity to minister to younger generations by explaining why they should have beer and pretzels in honour of Martin Luther. Sounds much better than Hallowe’en! )
For a better conversation about death and dying, we turn the page in many Christian calendars to November 1, All Saints Day, a time to recognize the saints who have gone before us. In other traditions, November might be a time to celebrate Memorial Sunday, recognizing people who have died in the past year. Some traditions will also celebrate Pledge Sunday in November, a time to make or renew a financial commitment to the church (more thoughts about this in another blog!)
Please remember with gratitude people who have left money to the church in their wills.
As we celebrate saints who have passed into glory, please remember with gratitude people who have left money to the church in their wills. Thank God for the generous saints who have blessed the church by leaving a bequest in their wills. Give thanks for people who asked their friends and family to donate to the church in their memory. It is entirely appropriate to pray for people who have made plans to leave a legacy gift to the church. Gratitude is not limited by time or space, Christians are thankful for the saints who have gone before and also for those who will bless us in the future.
A generous saint recently shared in my home congregation. She quoted from Hebrews 12:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. [NIV]
I am encouraged to be surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, young and old, living and dead. I pray that as we celebrate All Saints Day, the church can remember the many saints who bless the church through faithful generosity.
I’ve written about legacy giving often. A good summary is my SuperHero Stella article for Faith Today magazine. Or type ‘bequest’ or ‘legacy’ into the search engine in my blog.