All Saints Day 1 Nov 2020

Sunday 1st November will be celebrated as All Saints Day.

Organ Prelude for All Saints' Day  Psalm 149 - All Saints Day--Emma Lou Diemer. Performed by Mark Steiner.


This is the day that the Lord has made. 

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 


All Saints’ Day and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed on All Souls’ Day both celebrate this mutual belonging. All Saints’ Day celebrates men and women in whose lives the Church as a whole has seen the grace of God powerfully at work. It is an opportunity to give thanks for that grace, and for the wonderful ends to which it shapes a human life; it is a time to be encouraged by the example of the saints and to recall that sanctity may grow in the ordinary circumstances, as well as the extraordinary crises, of human living. The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed celebrates the saints in a more local and intimate key. It allows us to remember with thanksgiving before God those whom we have known more directly: those who gave us life, or who nurtured us in faith. 

Almighty and eternal God, 

from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted, 

either by death or life: 

hear our prayers and thanksgivings 

for all whom we remember this day; 

fulfil in them the purpose of your love; 

and bring us all, with them, to your eternal joy; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Prayer of Penitence 

Let us confess to God the sins and shortcomings 

of the world; its pride, its selfishness, its greed; 

its evil divisions and hatreds. 

Let us confess our share in what is wrong, 

and our failure to seek and establish that peace 

which God wills for his children. 


 Together we pray: 

Most merciful God, 

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

we confess that we have sinned 

in thought, word and deed. 

We have not loved you with our whole heart. 

We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. 

In your mercy 

forgive what we have been, 

help us to amend what we are, 

and direct what we shall be; 

that we may do justly, 

love mercy, 

and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen. 


 Almighty God, 

who forgives all who truly repent, 

have mercy upon us, 

pardon and deliver us from all our sins, 

confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, 

and keep us in life eternal; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


The Hymn : For All the Saints

The Lord's Prayer 


The Word of God 

First Reading: Revelations 7 : 9-end 

The Great Multitude in White Robes

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

            “Amen!

Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
16 16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.
17 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”




Second Reading: Matthew 5: 1-12 

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Source: New International Version BibleGateway.com


Final Prayer :


Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy in this time of uncertainty and distress. Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may rejoice in your comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. 


Our service ends with the Grace, 

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

and the Love of God, 

and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, 

be with us all evermore. Amen. 




All Saints Sunday Postlude : Toccata in Seven John Rutter (b.1945)


Thanks to St John's for the text in the above. You can find their full service in the link below.