Cloud of Witnesses

Post date: Nov 04, 2022 4:20:10 PM

Dear Middletown Reformed Church Family and Friends,

Grace and peace to you in this season of Ordinary Time!

Writer, artist, and ordained minister Jan Richardson wrote regarding All Saints Day: “I am thinking especially of those who have lost beloved ones since this time last year. And I am thinking always of those who have carried grief for a long time. I am grateful that the sacred calendar provides these days to do what so many of us do throughout the year: to remember beloved ones who are no longer here but who somehow journey with us still.”

Yes, beloved, we still travel together with those we have lost. And in this oftentimes lonely traveling of ours the presence of their absence is thick, but we live in hope because of a strong truth. As Easter people, we look to the resurrection, for one day God will swallow up death forever, and God will wipe away the tears from all our faces.

So, come to church with hope in your heart in person or on Facebook Live this All Saints Sunday as we remember those we have lost in the last year. Nancy Coffin will be leading us in music and will sing “You Are Mine” for the Prelude. I am preaching from Ephesians 1.11-23 and my sermon title is We Still Travel Together. Our intern Grace Modla has prepared a special art installation called “Cloud of Witnesses” that you will see in our sanctuary. In addition, we will gather around the table as we celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and be joined by all the saints of the past — Jesus, his disciples, the early church and the centuries after, along with those who built MRC and sat in the pews before us. The past saints and now we, the living saints joined together in worship and the Lord’s Sacrament. After worship, we will continue God’s feast in the Education Building with our First Sunday brunch. A free-will offering will be received to support the ministries of the church.

In gratitude for the privilege of being your pastor and the holy call of loving you,

Pastor Trish