Almost Weekly Update

The feast of All Saints was on November 1st, though we will be observing the feast this Sunday. I think the observance of the feast of All Saints is particularly important for our ecumenical congregation. We are not simply trying to bring three disparate Christian traditions together in one congregation. That is the institutional reality but it is not the reality of the make up of our congregation. Only a few of us at Reconciler actually come from these three denominations.
The feast of All Saints directs our attention to those in the church who have gone before who exemplified for us the true meaning of the faith and being a follower of Christ. We are to remember all the Saints without whom we would have no faith. We celebrate the faithfulness of God in preserving the continuity of the church through the centuries from Pentecost to our own day. The feast calls us to recognize that we are but at the end of a long line of those who have served God and served God more consistently than we do. We need the Saints, Not only do we have faith because of them, but we need them now we need their example we need their prayers, we need to see ourselves present to them in our worship before God. The Saints are important because they are together with us the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, they show us what it means to follow Christ and through their prayers we are sustained in our running the course, in the midst of that great crowd of witnesses who cheer us on. My friends we are not alone, we are not saved alone we do not work for justice alone, we do not serve God alone. We follow a well beaten path by now. We can certain focus on all the failures of Christians and the church, but the feast of All Saints reminds us there have been in every age those faithful those who have shown forth the grace of God.
This is the longing of an ecumenical congregation to walk in the fullness of the faith to break out of sectarian mindsets so that we may be the church, for we are saved together and not alone separated and divided.
Announcements:
There is a congregational meeting scheduled for November 12 after our Sunday service it is important that all plan to attend.
something to be aware of in our worship as we move into the season of Advent: We will begin each service with a procession of clergy and cantor
Also, we need people who would be willing to light Advents wreath candles, the advents wreath is a way of marking the Sundays of Advent. The lighting of the candles includes a meditation on the coming of Jesus Christ from the Prophets. The lighting of the Advents wreath would include processing with pastors and cantor lighting the candle(s) and then reading a passage from the prophets at the beginning of the service. If you are interested in participating in this way in our Advent services or have questions about the tradition of the Advents wreath talk to Tripp or Larry
First Advent we will have the Rev. David Hedges presiding at communion: this will be a festive and solemn occasion as we process singing the Great litany (if you do not know what this is ask Tripp or Larry.)at the beginning of the service and then will have a sung Eucharist.
The worship committee would like your feedback on these various aspects of our Advent worship, each week here on the church's blog We will post a "what did you think?" post inviting your comments and reflections on the liturgy. Also feel free to give your feedback to the members of the committee in person (Jeremy, Katya, Kate, Tripp, and Larry).
Lastly, As some of you know Reconciler sponsors a monthly artist gathering. The group was on hiatus over the Summer but has started up again. For those of you unfamiliar with the group it was formed as a forum for artist to come together and reflect on and discuss the intersection of faith and art as well as support for artist who are also Christians. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday November 16th at 8PM, the group will be discussing the Step theater production of the Last Days of Judas Iscariot which is running through November 11th. If you are interested in taking part you are invited to join the groups Yahoo Group from the side bar
In Christ,
Larry