This Saturday evening you can set your clocks back one hour and gain an extra hour of sleep. Rather than the extra slumber, you may choose to use this Sunday morning’s special gift of additional time to ponder loved ones who now rest in eternal life. The end of daylight saving falls this year on All Saints Day. Remember all the saints.
Two things are likely to happen in most churches across our nation this Sunday morning. First, there will be a few early birds who will show up an hour before worship, simply because they didn’t adjust their clocks. Next, worshipers will probably hear a very familiar tune “Sine Nomine,” which means “without name.”
Ralph Vaughan Williams composed “Sine Nomine” and published it in an English hymnal in 1906. The well-known English composer paired his tune with text written by William W. How, a bishop of the Anglican Church. Bishop How’s hymn was first published with a different tune in Horatio Nelson’s “Hymns for Saints’ Days” in 1864. Today, this popular hymn is published in at least 87 different worship hymnals. Although the tune may be “without name” you may be more familiar with the text’s title, “For All the Saints.”
This Sunday many congregations will remember the faithful who have died during the past year. We will give thanks and remember 26 dearly departed. Join us this Sunday, November 1st at 10:00 AM for our All Saints remembrance. Soprano Jamie Stainkamp will bless us with her faithful rendition of “For All the Saints.”