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November 1, 2024
Dear Friends in Christ,
As we enter November, many of our congregations celebrate the Feast of All Saints—a time rich in tradition across our synod. Some congregations honor the saints who have died in the past year by reading their names, tolling bells, lighting candles, or pausing in silence to remember those we've loved and lost. As a pastor, I always found this to be a deeply meaningful practice that connected me to the lives we touch through the church’s ministries.
It may sound nerdy, but I also see All Saints as a time to remember the parish register, our own “book of life,” with its record of those saints. In my congregation, we began a tradition of reading the names of our newest saints—those baptized in the past year—alongside our faithful departed. The names of the newly baptized often outnumbered those we remembered in passing, making it a powerful witness to new life and resurrection. Many congregations encourage members to bring photos of loved ones who are now seated at the eternal banquet table, reminding us at the altar of our connection to them in the sacrament of Holy Communion. All Saints is a beautiful reminder of our bond, unbroken by death, in Christ.
All Saints also marks the start of our Synod’s annual donor appeal, an invitation for individual support of the work we do together. In our synod congregations contribute Mission Support, which funds both Synod and churchwide efforts—half supporting ministries here and half shared with churchwide. But we are now in a day when that Mission Support alone can’t fully sustain Synod’s budget. That’s why, through our All Saints Appeal, we invite individuals to give directly to our Synod. My personal giving goes here, where 100% of funds given to the All Saint’s Appeal stay within the Synod. I invite you to prayerfully consider a gift to the All Saints Appeal. It’s only through a network of committed saints that we can continue the work of loving God and loving neighbor.
We are also connected into one great community this month exercise our sacred right to vote. For those who have this right, I pray you view it as a responsibility grounded in faith. Our faith in Jesus calls us to care for one another, and voting is a powerful way to do that. I’ll be joining you at the polls this year as a poll worker—a role I see as part of my civic duty. I ask for your prayers for all those working the polls this week as we work to ensure a safe and fair election process. Although the climate may feel divided, I pray we can see ourselves as one great communion of saints, even across differences.
As we read in Hebrews, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Let us not grow weary in our witness to Christ’s love, a love that compels us to serve others. We are a people rooted in the truth that resurrection is possible. This is our hope. And hope is different from optimism; optimism might accept the status quo, thinking things might get better. Hope, however, knows that things won’t change on their own. Hope demands courage, honesty, creativity, and imagination to work toward what might seem impossible. We, as people of hope, don’t turn from the world’s struggles but engage with them. We remember that we stand in a great line of those who hoped before us, their hope fulfilled now in eternity, and we carry that same hope for what is yet to come. United in Christ, we are capable of impossible things.
So, as we move through this month, let us remain united as a community of saints, fostering a hope that transforms the world. In our shared witness, our welcome, and our unity despite difference, we embody our deep connection as one Body of Christ.
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