All Saints and All Souls
Updated: 4 days ago
Sunday Service, 1 November 2026
Led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall and Eva Kortekaas
Musical Prelude: Solace by Stephanie Curcio (performed by Grace Cross)
Opening Words: ‘We Gather to Remember’ by Shari Woodbury (adapted)
As the autumn leaves begin to fall,
and we “fall back” in time,
the veil between the living and
the dead, they say, grows thin.
We gather here, within
these sheltering walls,
under the influence of ancestors
from our spiritual line.
We gather to remember those
who have gone before,
to honour in ritual and song
the beauty and wisdom of time,
and to carry into the future
the Love that binds us together.
Take your place in this community
that spans generations and closes
the chasms between then and now.
Take your place in the long line
of descendants, until you too,
one day, are an ancestor.
Come, let us worship together. (pause)
Words of Welcome and Introduction:
These words from Shari Woodbury welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those who have gathered in-person at Essex Church, to all who are joining us via Zoom, and anyone tuning in at a later date via YouTube or listening to the podcast. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Jane Blackall, and I’m minister with Kensington Unitarians.
Today, the first of November, is All Saints Day. In the Christian tradition this is the day for celebrating the official ‘saints’ of the church – those people who have been recognised as exceptionally holy – in some denominations there is a strict official meaning of the word but we might understand ‘saints’ as those especially virtuous people who have gone before us and who are our most inspiring examples of how to live – people who have lived lives of love, justice, and peace. Tomorrow, the second of November, is All Souls Day, which (in the words of UU Minister Carl Seaburg) is the day for honouring ‘the holy souls who have graced our lives and passed from our living circle. Their radiance, their works, their memories, are still with us – and on this day we meet to celebrate them fondly. And thoughtfully too, remembering that we also some day shall follow where they went. May we honour those who gave this universe consciousness by their coming and going.’
Today’s service is a bit more interactive than our usual services – there’ll be a chance to take part in a meditative ritual where we write the names of those people we want to honour today. And I also invited you to bring along an item connected to someone you wanted to remember – a relic, we might say – there will be a chance for us to say a few brief words about those relics later on. But fear not, this is an invitation, not an obligation. You can join in or not as you feel moved.
Chalice Lighting: ‘Carrying the Light Onward’ by Greg Wise (freely adapted)
Let’s light our chalice flame now, as we do each week. It’s a moment for us to stop and take a breath, settle ourselves down, put aside any preoccupations we came in carrying. This simple ritual connects us in solidarity with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over, and reminds us of the proud and historic progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part.
I’m going to invite Eva to share our chalice words for All Saints and All Souls now. (step aside for Eva)
One thing in this life is certain. No one – not one of us –
entering this world can escape the cost of living.
The price we pay is this: To live in this world
we must accept that someday we will have to die.
To love what is alive, we must accept having to lose
what we’ve made precious through our care.
To be fully and fiercely human, we must accept
having to be breakable and sometimes broken.
If we are lucky, we will all get a chance during our life
to know someone who becomes for us an exemplar of living.
Perhaps even a few such ‘saints’ have crossed our path along the way.
And if we are really lucky, we will recognize how they ended up
passing on some of their goodness to us. If we are lucky.
So on this day, as we mark the holy days of All Saints and All Souls,
we pause to notice how their lives gave us a path and a little light to see by.
(Jane to light chalice)
Remembering encourages us to help carry that light onward.
We light this chalice today to honour the bright lights
whose faithful goodness has touched our own lives,
in faith and hope that we will continue that line.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘Living and Dying’
Our first hymn this morning is in the middle of your beige hymn sheet: ‘Living and Dying’. We have two hymn sheets today! For those on zoom the words will be up on screen. Stand or sit as you prefer.
Sing of living, sing of dying,
Let them both be joined in one,
Parts of an eternal process
Like the ever-circling sun.
From the freshness of each infant
Giving hope in what is new,
To the wisdom of the aged
Deepened by a longer view.
Open to a deeper loving,
Open to the gift of care,
Searching for a higher justice,
Helping others in despair.
Through the tender bonds of living
In a more inclusive way
We are opened more to suffering
From the losses of each day.
When a special life has ended,
If our lives were interlaced,
We are carried into darkness
By that presence unreplaced.
Standing at the edge of meaning
Struggling to be free from pain,
Wondering if our hearts will ever
Dare to fill with love again.
Even when our grief o’erwhems us
And our aching hearts seem lost,
Life is dancing all around us,
Even while it counts the cost.
Slowly in our inner darkness,
Love may light the saddened will,
Giving us a way to see that
Life has meaning for us still.
Candles of Joy and Concern:
Each week when we gather together, we share a simple ritual of candles of joy and concern, an opportunity to light a candle and share something that is in our heart with the community. So we’ve an opportunity now, for anyone who would like to do so, to light a candle and say a few words about what it represents. We’ll go to the people in the building first, then to Zoom.
So I invite some of you here in person to come and light a candle and then if you wish to tell us who or what you light your candle for – please keep it brief – be considerate of others. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak, as we want people to be able to hear you.
(in person candles)
And if that’s everyone in the room we’ll go over to the people on Zoom next – you might like to switch to gallery view at this stage – just unmute yourselves when you are ready and speak out – and we should be able to hear you and see you up on the big screen here in the church.
(zoom candles)
And I’m going to light one more candle, as we often do, to represent all those joys and concerns that we hold in our hearts this day, but which we don’t feel able to speak out loud. (light candle)
Time of Prayer & Reflection: words by Jane Blackall
Let’s take those joys and concerns into an extended time of prayer. You might want to adjust your position for comfort, close your eyes, or soften your gaze. There might be a posture that helps you feel more prayerful. Whatever works for you. Do whatever you need to do to get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together – to be fully present here and now, in this sacred time and space – with ourselves, with each other, with that which is both within us and beyond us. (pause)
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, in whom we live and move and have our being,
we turn our full attention to you, the light within and without,
as we tune in to the depths of this life, and the greater wisdom
to which – and through which – we are all intimately connected.
Be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the
silence and stillness at the very centre of our being. (pause)
We gather together in prayer
to put our hearts in the right place;
to re-connect with ourselves, each other,
and with what matters most in this life;
to ground ourselves in what is good.
In prayer, let us bring our truest self,
as complicated and messy as that might be.
Let us allow our deepest feelings and desires to arise.
We can lay them out honestly. There is no need to hold back,
or put on a brave face, before the One Who Holds All;
the One Who Listens with Endless Compassion.
And so let us prayerfully reflect on the past week, and silently
give thanks for those joys and pleasures we have known:
moments of love, friendship and camaraderie;
experiences of wonder and delight; reassurance and relief;
bursts of playfulness, spontaneity and generosity;
feelings of achievement, creativity, and flow;
all those times when we felt most alive and awake. (pause)
Let us also ask for the consolation, forgiveness, and guidance
we may need, as we acknowledge our sorrows and regrets:
times of loss, pain, anger, and fear;
periods of uncertainty and anxious waiting;
realisation of our own weaknesses, mistakes and failings;
awareness of missed opportunities, those things left unsaid or undone;
those moments when we struggled and felt like a mess. (pause)
Expanding our circle of concern, let us bring to mind those people, places
and situations that are in need of prayer right now, and hold them in the light:
maybe friends or loved ones, those closest to our heart.
maybe those we find difficult, where there’s a conflict going on.
maybe those we don’t know so well, who we’ve heard about in the news. (pause)
Let us gather up our prayers and hand them over to The One Who Holds All (pause)
Spirit of Life – God of all Love – as this time of prayer comes to a close, we offer up
our joys and concerns, our hopes and fears, our beauty and brokenness,
and we call on you for insight, healing, and renewal.
As we look forward now to the coming week,
help us to live well each day and be our best selves;
using our unique gifts in the service of love, justice and peace. Amen.
In-Person Reading: ‘They Are with Us Still’ by Kathleen McTigue (read by Chloë)
In the struggles we choose for ourselves,
in the ways we move forward in our lives
and bring our world forward with us,
It is right to remember the names of those
who gave us strength in this choice of living.
It is right to name the power of hard lives well-lived.
We share a history with those lives.
We belong to the same motion.
They too were strengthened by what had gone before.
They too were drawn on by the vision of what might come to be.
Those who lived before us,
who struggled for justice and suffered injustice before us,
have not melted into the dust,
and have not disappeared.
They are with us still.
The lives they lived hold us steady.
Their words remind us and call us back to ourselves.
Their courage and love evoke our own.
We, the living, carry them with us:
we are their voices, their hands and their hearts.
We take them with us,
and with them choose the deeper path of living.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘In Sorrow We Remember’
Let’s sing again – our second hymn is also on your hymn sheet – ‘In Sorrow We Remember’. It’s to an old hymn tune which I think many of us will already know.
In sorrow we remember the loved ones we have lost.
As love bestows its blessings, it also brings a cost.
The joy we felt so deeply is now the deepest pain.
In sorrow we remember and say their names again.
In sorrow we remember our neighbours who are gone.
However well we knew them, our thoughts of them live on.
Their lives and ours were tangled, however loose the skein.
In sorrow we remember and say their names again.
Oh, may our hearts be opened to everything we feel.
Our sadness and our wonder we hold as true and real.
In faith and trust we honour the power of our grief.
In sorrow we remember a love beyond belief.
In-Person Poem: ‘For the Living’ by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer (read by John)
It is the work of the living
to grieve the dead.
It is our work to wake each day,
to live into the world that is.
It is our work to weep,
and it is our work to be healed.
Some part of us knows
not only the absence of our beloveds,
but also their presence,
how they continue to teach us,
how they invite us to grow.
It is our work to be softened by loss,
to be undone, destroyed, remade.
Wounded, we recoil,
and it is our work to notice how,
like crushed and trampled grass,
we spring back.
It is our work to meet death again
and again and again,
and though it aches to be open,
it is our work to be opened,
to live into the opening
until we know ourselves
as blossoms nourished from within
by the radiance of the ones
who are no longer physically here.
They have given us their love light to carry.
It is our work to be in service to that light.
Meditative Ritual: ‘Their Love Light to Carry’
Thanks John. Let’s take a moment to linger on those closing lines of the poem:
“They have given us their love light to carry. It is our work to be in service to that light.”
We’re moving into a time of meditation now, and rather than sharing lots more words, I’m going to invite you into a meditative activity. I want you to take this time to reflect on those people who you want to remember today – for All Saints and All Souls – those people who touched our lives, who have died, but whose light we are carrying onwards. It may be someone you were personally close to, or someone who just passed through your life for a short time but made a big impression, or maybe someone you never met but whose work or life story inspired you and has shaped your own life to some degree.
Each of you who is here in person should have a few paper stars on your seat and a pen to write on them with. During this time of silence, I invite you to write on each star the name of someone you want to remember, and honour, and if you need more stars we have lots of spares at the back of the room, just come and get them. And during the time of silence I invite you to come up quietly, and reverently, and place them around the edge of the central table. We can think of these stars as making circles of light.
If you’re joining on Zoom, please do join in too, when the time comes, you can type the names you want included into the chat and Jasmine will write them onto stars for you.
After a few minutes of silence, when it seems we’re all done with placing our stars, we’ll hear the bell. Then we’ll hear some beautiful music from Grace for meditation. This music comes with its own poem, in fact, which is printed on your blue hymn sheet. I don’t want to give you too many things to think about at once! Something for later.
So let’s do what we need to do now to get into a reverent frame of mind. As always, this activity is just an offering, feel free to use this quiet time to meditate in your own way.
I’ll just echo those words from the poem once again, as we reflect on the names we want to remember and honour, and write them on the stars. “They have given us their love light to carry. It is our work to be in service to that light.”
Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell
Interlude: Sonate für Harfe, III. Lied by Paul Hindemith (performed by Grace Cross)
Today’s musical interlude comes with an accompanying poem:
‘Bequest’ by L. H. Christian Holty
Translation by Saul Davis
Friends, when I am dead,
Hang up the little harp behind the altar
Where the funeral wreaths
Of many a dead maiden glimmer.
The sexton will then kindly
Show the little harp to visitors
And rustle the red ribbon
That is tied to the harp and
Twined among its golden strings.
“Oft,” he’ll say wonderingly,
“in the sunset the strings sound softly by themselves,
like the hum of bees.
The children, drawn here from the churchyard,
Have heard it and seen
How the wreaths quivered.”
Responsive Prayer: ‘Living and Dying’ by Jane Blackall (read by Eva)
I invite you now, if you wish, to join in with the responsive prayer that’s in your order of service if you’re in the building – it’s on the back of your blue hymn sheet – and the words will be up on screen if you’re joining at home. Please join in speaking the words printed in bold. (pause)
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, help us to face our human predicament,
and come to terms with the knowledge that our lives will end someday.
To deny death is to deny life; may we live honestly, courageously,
and wholeheartedly, knowing that death will be our life’s completion.
Grant us awareness that our time is limited, though its span is not yet known, that
we may make the most of each moment and relish life’s journey to the very end.
We do not know for certain what lies beyond the threshold of life and death;
may we come to accept this mystery, and appreciate the here and now.
Encourage us to prepare ourselves – practically, emotionally, and spiritually –
that we might be more ready to meet death, whenever it comes for us.
This is the time for us to put things right and deal with unfinished business;
may we make the most of the time we have left, living wisely and well.
Awaken in us a love of righteousness; call our hearts to truth and beauty.
Remind us of what matters most, so that we do not fritter our time away.
Each day is a fresh chance to love and be loved; may we reach out to others,
building loving connections, bringing compassion and kindness wherever we go.
Help us to be good companions to others as they move towards the end of life,
offering our presence and attention, and showing up for each other as best we can.
It is said that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’; may we also be the ‘village’ that
surrounds each soul on their dying journey, and cares for their caregivers too.
Spirit of Life, God of All Love, bless us in our living and in our dying.
Grant us the courage and clear vision we need to embrace reality.
This is our human condition; these are the days we are given;
may we use them in the service of love, justice, and peace. Amen.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘A Little Memento’
Let’s sing again – our third hymn is on your beige hymn sheet – ‘A Little Memento’. We haven’t sung this one before but it’s an old tune that is reasonably well known so let’s see how we go.
A little memento can move us to tears,
a memory can surface along with its fears,
the past is still with us, and scars are so raw,
while hope can seem absent on life's barren shore.
The life that has ebbed has left marks on our lives,
while love is still present some hope still survives.
The treasure of saints in each era and age,
is loving, while living upon the earth's stage.
And these we remember, each person, each life,
the good they engendered, their solace in strife;
the warmth of a hand, or the smile of a face,
their presence a channel of God given grace.
INTERACTIVE: Time for Sharing Our Relics
In the order of service it says that we’ve come to a time to share our ‘relics’. Maybe that seems like an odd choice of word – we just sung about ‘mementoes’ and that’s a more familiar way of thinking about it – but I wanted to emphasise the holy aspect of what we’re doing here today. It is All Saints Day, after all, and ‘relics’ are items left behind by saints, tangible reminders, which might be a comfort to look at or to hold.
So we’ve got about ten minutes to share our relics and we’ll do this in a similar way to the Candles of Joy and Concern – I’ll invite the people in the room first – then the people on Zoom. As ever it’s an invitation not an obligation – there’s no pressure. By default we will leave this bit in the recording of the service, so if you join in but don’t want to be included in the video that goes on YouTube, have a word with me or drop me an email to let me know straight after the service and I’ll make sure to edit you out.
So for the people in the room, please come up when you’re ready, make sure you come to the microphone, and show your memento and tell us who it is connected to. Of course, when we’re speaking about people we want to remember, we might feel moved to say a lot, but I’m going to ask you to be aware of how long you’re speaking, so that everyone who wants to join in can have be heard in the time we’ve got. Sadly, we won’t have time to hear more of your shared story during the service, but these conversations can always continue afterwards (and I hope that they do).
(in person sharing)
And if that’s everyone in the room we’ll go over to the people on Zoom next – we’re going to do this slightly differently than usual – when you’re ready to speak please put your hand up and Ramona will spotlight you when she sees you. When it invites you to unmute please do so and please go ahead and speak – and we’ll hear you in church.
(zoom ritual)
If that’s everyone… thank you for sharing.
Let’s close with a blessing based on the words of Christine Robinson.
Spirit of Life, God of All Love,
whom we know best in our own loving and being loved,
hold us as we remember those we have loved,
and those who have loved us.
May our gratitude shine in our lives,
may our tears soothe our tender souls.
Help us to know that we are not alone in our grieving,
and help us also to come to that peaceful place
in which we can take what we learned
from those who have gone before us,
and integrate it into our own lives.
Remind us that we, too, are mortal;
that the only enduring legacy we leave
is the love that shines through our lives. Amen.
Hymn (on sheet): ‘For All the Saints’
Let’s sing again, one last time, and it’s on the blue hymn sheet: ‘For All the Saints’.
For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, most holy, be for ever blest:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
Their strength and solace in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness deep, their one true light:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion of the saints divine!
We live in struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the conflict long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Announcements:
Thanks to Ramona for hosting and Shari for co-hosting. Please do stick around if you’re online or drop me a line to say hello. Thanks to Grace for lovely music, to Jack for accompanying hymns, and Benjie for supporting our singing. Thanks to Eva, Chloë and John for reading. Thanks to Jasmine for writing down the names for our online members. Thanks to John for greeting and Pat and Anna for making coffee. If you are in-person do stay for cake and a chat (I’ve made coffee and walnut cake or apple and sultana buns).
And, if you possibly can, stay on for our Hospitality Workshop from 1-2pm today. If you’re a member of the congregation we really need your help to make this an ever-more-welcoming community. I reckon this is already a friendly church but there’s more that we can do to take it to the next level and we need everybody on board if we’re to grow this congregation. Do stay!
Tonight and Friday at 7pm we’ve got our ‘Heart and Soul’ online contemplative spiritual gathering – this week our theme is ‘Maintenance’ – email me if you want to join us and I’ll share the link. This is a really good way to get to know members of the congregation more deeply so I especially commend it to you if you’re someone who attends online as it’s a bit more interactive.
The poetry group meets this Wednesday evening at 7pm – talk to Brian if you’re planning to come.
Our autumn RE course on ‘The Language of Faith’ starts this Thursday (5th November) and runs through November so this is your last chance to sign up – that’s online – email me ASAP to sign up.
Sonya is back with Nia Dance from this coming Friday at 12.30pm.
The Better World Book Club is reading ‘Dear Life’ by palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke this month (meeting on 22nd Nov). We’ve got a couple of copies left to loan out if you want to join us.
Next Sunday it’s our Remembrance Sunday service so make sure you get here early so we can observe the traditional time of silence promptly at 11am. The service is titled ‘Only Peace is Holy’.
And after next week’s service Hannah will be here to offer her Community Yoga class.
Details of all our various activities are printed on the back of the order of service, for you to take away, and also in the Friday email. The congregation has a life beyond Sunday mornings; please keep in touch, look out for each other, and do what you can to nurture supportive connections.
Before we end I just want to say a particular thank you to Eva, our ministry student on placement, this is her last day with us and indeed she’s heading back to the Netherlands tonight. It’s been lovely to have you with us and we wish you all the best for your onward journey. And it seems fitting to let Eva have the final word today so please, Eva, come and offer our benediction.
Benediction: based on words by Leia Durland-Jones
For those who came before us,
we offer gratitude and thanks.
May their memories be a blessing.
May we feel surrounded by their love.
As we go forth from this time and place,
let us be inspired by their courage,
their wisdom, and their dreams.
Let us honour them by doing the work
of living boldly, loving mightily,
and creating heaven on earth.
May we carry the light onward.
And may it be so for the greater good of all. Amen.
Closing Music: Unaccompanied excerpt from Danses, Danse Sacrée by Claude Debussy (performed by Grace Cross)
Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall and Eva Kortekaas
1st November 2026