Dear friends in Christ,
This Sunday the church celebrates the Feast of All Saints. This is a grand celebration of the communion of saints—the church which spans all time and space. It helps us see ourselves as part of the communion of saints, people who are called to sainthood by our baptism and people who can rely on the prayer of those who have gone before us.
As it turns out, you are receiving this email on another major feast day, the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude. We don’t know too much about these two apostles, but ancient tradition teaches that they gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel.
The assigned epistle reading for today’s feast comes from Ephesians chapter 2, and it includes these lines:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
This is it. We who follow Jesus are united into a holy temple, the Body of Christ. That’s true for all our Christians siblings around the world today, and it’s true for all the Christians who have gone before us—the great cloud of witnesses.
We are never alone. God is with us, and so are his saints.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
The Renewing Discipleship Conference is drawing closer! When you join us in Houston this January, you’ll be inspired and strengthened for ministry – through workshops and conversations, as well as worship and prayer. Meet our preachers and workshop leaders here.
“When I approached my Rector in the Fall of 2025 asking, “When are we going to do a Bible study?” I had no idea what the Holy Spirit had in store for me.” A Renewal Works co-facilitator from Franklin, TN, reflects on her experience with this transformative program.
Our friends at Church of the Advent just published their fifth volume of “Hell Yeah!: The Horror of the Bible,” a series of comic book style zines that’s now available from Forward Movement As you’ll hear, they’re combining this creative medium with, quoting Dan, “the idea of making everything in the Bible talk about-able.” Read and listen here.
Suggested reading: Advent is only a month away!