This post was originally written in 10/22 with slight edits in 10/24.

Dear One’s of St. C’s, 

I want to talk about Allhallowtide a little early this year with the hopes that our church will begin to prepare for what these days could hold for us.  Did you know that Halloween is a Christian feast day a part of Allhallowtide?

Allhallowtide consists of three days - Oct 31st (All Hallow’s Eve/Halloween), Nov. 1 (All Saint’s Day), and Nov. 2nd (All Soul’s Day).  These days are special days that the church has set aside in the Christian calendar to remember and honor the dead and examine our own relationship with death. 

Death is talked about so little in our culture, which only makes us less capable and less prepared when someone we love dies or when we need to face our own mortality.  Allhallowtide has something to teach us and reveal to us about our relationship to death.  I believe that as a church we can be blessed by marking these days together. We can face our fears and our grief, we can face each other and know we are not alone, and we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are with God and continually shaping us and our church.  

On October 31st, Halloween, we face the things that scare us, many of us put on scary costumes and walk around in the dark, knocking on strangers doors threatening them, “trick or treat.”  We celebrate All Hallow’s eve here at St. Columba’s as it begins to get dark on the Sunday before Halloween (@5:30pm).  We come together in prayer, listening to scary bible passages and wearing costumes. We then eat and play together by decorating pumpkins.  Our minds and bodies learn by play and facing our fears is always easier when we know we have a community that surrounds us. 

Traditionally, the following day we would mark All Saint’s Day on Nov. 1st.  Here at St. Columba’s we move the feast day to the first Sunday after Nov. 1st. Because we think it is so important that we mark this day all together as a community and Sunday is the day we set aside to do that.  We will pray for our beloved dead during the Eucharistic prayer and we will make an altar and bring pictures and objects of our beloved dead.  We will take time together to remember the people who’s lives shape our church tradition and shape our own lives.  We will remember the people we never got to meet and the ones who’s voices we miss hearing.  It is a time to bring all the emotions and feelings that come with death, which are often complicated and contradictory. And we will be in them together as a community. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 30th @6:30pm we will mark All Soul’s Day.  This will be a smaller more intimate setting for people who are desiring a place to dig a little deeper into their grief or maybe even their complicated feelings for someone who has died or their own feelings around dying.  All people and emotions are welcome. 

May this year’s Allhallowtide bless us in new and unexpected ways.

With care, 

Meghan