All Hallows Episcopal Church

A deer stopped by All Hallows today—the ushers have seriously upped their outreach game 😂

Prayers for Father’s Day
Gracious and loving God, we praise you when we think about the sacrifice and love given to us by those we call our fathers. Thank you for our biological fathers, the ones who adopted us, and the one(s) who mentored us along the path of life.
Sustain those who never knew their father, or those for whom the memory of their father is difficult.

With Gratitude, we lift up those who did their best, who made mistakes, let us see them cry, and for those who were tougher on us than we would have preferred. May the strength, tenacity, resilience, independence, and perseverance we learned from both these blessings and from these challenges, help us to continue to grow in your love and service.

We thank you, Lord, for the those who surrendered and entrusted their child to another parent for adoption, grant them peace.

We pray for those whose child did not live to take a breath or left the earth too soon, we pray for comfort that only comes from knowing Jesus.

Sweet and loving God, we pray for those who are struggling with guilt, shame, and feelings of not being enough, we claim your healing redemption upon their lives.
We lift up to you those who yearn to have a child and struggle with infertility. Comfort them as only you can. Fill them with your love and peace, help them to feel completed by your grace and mercy.

Wrap your arms around those who no longer have their father here on earth. This day can also be a painful reminder of the grief and loss in noticing the absence of our fathers. Bless them with a touch from you, reassuring them of your presence.
For all these types of fathers we ask for the peace that passes all understanding to guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN!

ASCENSION DAY is Thursday, May 14!

Forty days after Easter, the Church celebrates one of the great mysteries of our faith: the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord. This ancient celebration marks the moment when the risen Christ returned to the fullness of God’s presence, completing the earthly portion of his ministry and opening a new chapter in the life of the Church. The story of the Ascension is told most clearly in Acts 1:6–11, where the disciples gather with the risen Jesus on the Mount of Olives. As they watch, he is lifted up and taken from their sight.

At All Hallows, we will honor this great feast with a beautiful Ascension Day Eucharist at 7PM. The liturgy will include the use of incense and the high altar, reflecting the festal and celebratory nature of the day as we lift our hearts with Christ who is lifted into heaven.

Following the service, we will continue the celebration with one of our beloved traditions of an Ascension Day fellowship gathering, a time to share food, conversation, and community together.

The Ascension reminds us that Christ is not absent from the world but reigns over it. From heaven Christ continues to guide, sustain, and pray for us. As we gather to celebrate this feast, we proclaim the hope that where Christ has gone, we are also called to follow.

We hope you will join us for this joyful celebration of the Ascended Lord.

Gracious and loving God, we praise you when we think about the sacrifice and love given to us by those we call our mothers. Thank you for the mother who gave birth to us, the one who adopted us, and the one(s) who mentored us along the path of life.

Sustain those who never knew their mother, or those for whom the memory of their mother is difficult.

With Gratitude, we lift up those who did their best, who made mistakes, let us see them cry, and for those who were tougher on us than we would have preferred. May the strength, tenacity, resilience, independence, and perseverance we learned from both these blessings and from these challenges, help us to continue to grow in your love and service.

We thank you, Lord, for those who surrendered and entrusted their child to another parent for adoption, grant them peace.

We pray for those whose child did not live to take a breath or left the earth too soon, we pray for comfort that only comes from knowing Jesus.

Sweet and loving God, we pray for those who are struggling with guilt, shame, and feelings of not being enough, we claim your healing redemption upon their lives.

We lift up to you those who yearn to have a child and struggle with infertility or difficulties of carrying a baby to term. Comfort them as only you can. Fill them with your love and peace, help them to feel completed by your grace and mercy.

Wrap your arms around those who no longer have their mother here on earth. This day can also be a painful reminder of the grief and loss in noticing the absence of our moms. Bless them with a touch from you, reassuring them of your presence.

For all these types of mothers we ask for the peace that passes all understanding to guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN!

Yesterday, we spoke also sang ALLELUIA! as we celebrated Jesus' resurrection.

It was a glorious day.

(Photo credit: Dave Conly)

Holy Saturday, quiet waiting and reflection
“O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so may we await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (BCP)

A Sermon for Good Friday

There is a kind of silence that settles over this day. The sanctuary is bereft of decoration. The music, what there is of it, is somber. It feels different. Sometimes silence can be what we need at the end of a day to refresh and reenergize ourselves. But this is not the peaceful silence of rest or contentment. It is the heavy silence that comes when something has gone terribly wrong. It is the silence that comes when we can’t believe what we have just seen. When truth is twisted, power is abused, and when the innocent suffer.
Good Friday lives in that silence.

We have just heard the Passion according to John. And if we listen closely—not just with our ears, but with our hearts—we begin to see a pattern emerge. This is not just the story of one man’s suffering. It is the story of what happens when religion and government feel threatened… and respond badly…Very badly.
Jesus is arrested in a garden. Betrayed by one of his own. And from that moment on, he is passed back and forth between two centers of power: the religious authorities and the political authorities.

And what do we see? We see fear and self self-preservation. We see systems working exactly as they were designed to work—not to protect truth, not to defend justice, but to maintain control.
The religious leaders are afraid of losing their influence and their authority. They are afraid that Jesus, with his teaching and his signs and his unsettling freedom, will disrupt everything they have built. And so, they justify what cannot be justified. They bend their own laws. They manipulate the process. They hand him over.

And then there is Pilate. Pilate, the representative of empire. Pilate, who asks the right question...."What is truth?”.... but has no interest in waiting for the answer. Pilate knows something is wrong. He says it plainly: “I find no case against him.” And yet… he hands Jesus over anyway. Because truth is not his priority. His priorities reside in order, stability and keeping the peace....at any cost. So he washes his hands, even as he authorizes the cross.

And in between these two powers, religious and political, stands Jesus. He is unarmed and unprotected. He is also unwilling to play their games.

Jesus does not argue for his life or call down the angels to do battle for him. He does not seize power. He even tells Peter to stop the violence. Instead, Jesus speaks of a kingdom that is not from this world. And that… is the real threat.

Because a kingdom not built on fear cannot be controlled by fear. A kingdom not built on domination cannot be preserved by violence. A kingdom rooted in truth cannot be silenced by lies.

The response is predictable.

When power feels threatened, it lashes out. When authority is challenged, it tightens its grip. When importance is questioned, it will do almost anything to preserve itself. Even if that means condemning the innocent and crucifying love itself.

And here is the uncomfortable truth of Good Friday: This is not just their story. It is ours. Because whenever religion becomes more concerned with its own survival than with God’s truth… it risks becoming like those who handed Jesus over. Whenever governments prioritize control over justice… they risk becoming like Pilate. And whenever we, as individuals, choose comfort over courage, silence over truth, self-preservation over love… we stand closer to the crowd than we might like to admit.

Good Friday holds up a mirror. And what we see there is not flattering. But this day is not only about what has gone wrong. It is also about what God does in the midst of what has gone wrong.
While the powers of this world are busy protecting themselves, God is busy giving Godself away. While leaders cling to authority, Jesus lets it go. While systems demand sacrifice, Jesus becomes the sacrifice.

Not because God delights in suffering. Not because violence is somehow holy. But because love, real love, refuses to abandon the world....even when the world behaves like this. Especially when the world behaves like this.

And that is why, on this day, our liturgy does something remarkable. We pray. We pray for the church. We pray for the nations. We pray for those in authority. We pray for those who suffer. We pray for those who do not know God. We pray for all conditions of people.

Why?

Because even on the day when religion and government fail so completely we do not stop praying for them. Even when power is abused , we pray for those who hold it. Even when systems are broken, we pray for the world those systems shape. Because the cross reveals not only the depth of human failure… but the depth of divine love.

God’s love is a love that refuses to give up. It is a love that refuses to draw lines between the worthy and the unworthy. It is a love that, even from the cross, says, “Father, forgive.”

So today, we stand at the foot of the cross. We see what fear can do. We see what power can do. We see what we can do. But we also see what God does. God does not retaliate. God does not abandon. God does not withdraw. God remains. Present in the suffering. Present in the injustice. Present in the silence.

And somehow, mysteriously, powerfully, working through it all to bring about something new. That is the tension of this day. Because Good Friday is not the end of the story. But it is a necessary part of it. A day when illusions are stripped away and we see the world as it is. Good Friday is a day when we confront the cost of love.

And so, we wait. We pray. We watch. And we trust that even here, especially here, God is at work.
Amen.

All children are invited to All Hallows Annual Easter Egg Hunt following the 10:00 AM Service on Easter Sunday! Meet in the Parish Hall after the service.

We welcome you to our Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 4th at 7pm and to our Easter Day service at 10am. After worship on Sunday, stay for our Easter Egg Hunt and festal fellowship as we celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection together!