During worship on November 7, the Sunday after All Saints’ Day, we give thanks for the lives of Westminster’s members who have died over the past year. Their names will be read, each followed by a chime in remembrance. Bless the memories of your saints, God. May we learn how to walk wisely from their examples of faith, dedication, worship, and love. As we remember all the saints, we give glory to God for the ordinary, holy lives of the believers in this and every age. And we pray that we may be counted among the company of the faithful in God’s eternal realm.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God.
– Job 19:25-26

Linda Berry
Sally Bothe
Cory Boustead
Daniel Carper
Nancy Douglass
Mary Ann Evans
Genie Ferrell
George Foder
Dorothy Gregory
Charles Hauth
Dave Hilty
Joe Irwin
Joan Jessen
Sally Johnson
Frank Knoerdel
Betty Leuch
Mary Alice McKean
John McWhorter
Karen Michael
Jean Noll
Howard Oliver
Nancy Park
Beth Plotner
Don Rogers
Alice Smith
Doris Turner
Joan Utter
Doris Wells

The Faithful of Every Generation

For Presbyterians, All Saints’ Day is a time to rejoice in all who through the ages have faithfully served the Lord. The day reminds us that we are part of one continuing, living communion of saints. It is a time to claim our kinship with the “glorious company of apostles…the noble fellowship of prophets…the white-robed army of martyrs” (Te Deum). It is a time to express our gratitude for all who in ages of darkness kept the faith, for those who have taken the gospel to the ends of the earth, for prophetic voices who have called the church to be faithful in life and service, for all who have witnessed to God’s justice and peace in every nation.

To rejoice with all the faithful of every generation expands our awareness of a great company of witnesses above and around us like a cloud (Hebrews 12:1). It lifts us out of a preoccupation with our own immediate situation and the discouragements of the present. In the knowledge that others have persevered, we are encouraged to endure against all odds (Hebrews 12:1-2). Reminded that God was with the faithful of the past, we are reassured that God is with us today, moving us and all creation toward God’s end in time. In this context, it is appropriate for a congregation on the Sunday after All Saints’ Day to commemorate the lives of those who died during the previous year.

– Companion to the Book of Common Worship, Geneva Press, 2003, pp. 150-151