Updated on
October 13, 2022
In every time and place, imperfect and broken people who have been made saints through Jesus Christ are called to offer their gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the body of Christ. 

All Saints' Day or Reformation Day

Many churches have focused on this theme on All Saints' Day (November 1) in order to give thanks for all who have gone before and to celebrate Christian unity with the "great cloud of witnesses" that precedes us (Heb. 12:1). All Saints Day can helpfully focus God’s grace in the lives of both well-known and ordinary, not-well-known saints. Whenever the theme of the communion of the saints is celebrated, it is important to remember that all who are united in Christ, whether dead or alive, are saints ("sanctified," made holy, to serve God) because-and only because-of the unmerited work of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In light of this, a service for All Saints’ Day could use the four marks of the church as a framework. The Nicene Creed says that, “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” John D. Witvliet suggests that pairing each of these marks of the church with a psalm would serve as a good outline for an All Saint’s Day or Reformation Service. There are many musical settings of each psalm available. Consider:

  • One: Psalm 133
  • Holy: Psalm 24
  • Catholic: Psalm 87
  • Apostolic: Psalm 67

Congregational songs to consider:

  • "God Is My Rock" 

Scripture and confessional passages to consider: