Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
November 1 Worship Service Video
Join us for Sunday morning worship at CUC at 10:00 AM
with the He/SheBrews Café following in the Van Roon Community Hall
- Our guest on Sunday is the Rev. Dr. John Pentland, long time friend of Michael, bestselling author, and minister of Hillhurst United Church in Calgary.
- Many Gifts, One Spirit – the 2027 Stewardship Campaign – Our Annual Stewardship Campaign begins this Sunday. Addressed envelopes with pledge cards, stewardship information, and statements will be available in the Entrance Hall. This coming Monday an email version of the information will be sent to those one our email list. Please look for this material and share in our commitment to ministry for 2027.
- We are saddened yet filled with gratitude to announce the death of Len Van Roon, the oldest and longest attending member of our congregation. Len would have been 105 years old on December 1. His parents began coming here when they moved to Charleswood in 1928 and Len was 7 years old. He has lived in the same Charleswood Road farmhouse ever since. A Celebration of Life will be held at the church on Saturday, November 14 at 2:00 PM. Please remember the family and friends of Len in your prayers this week.
- The ABC’s of Christian Faith is a six-week course of the foundations of our faith for people interested in confirmation, adult baptism, or simply as a refresher. The ABC’s are held every other Wednesday at 7:00. The next session is on November 4 and will be on church history.
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Halloween is a good reminder why we need church!
It may not be for the reasons you guess. I don’t think that Halloween and church are mutually exclusive. There is nothing offensive in Halloween or that runs counter to the values of the gospel. People who forget that Halloween is first and foremost a night of fun for kids, that costumes are candy are the reason for the season, are what they appear to be – party poopers.
It is not history that sparks the connection between Halloween and church for me. Some will be aware that November 1 is All Saints Day in the liturgical (church) calendar. It has been so since the 7th or 8th century. All Saints is a special day to remember those who have gone before us. In medieval times it was meant to recall the saints who did not have a festival day of their own in the Roman Catholic calendar. After the Protestant Reformation and we no longer designated specific individuals as saints, we began to use the term ‘communion of saints’ to describe all our ancestors, and churches in our tradition still held onto November 1 as All Saints Day. We even have a couple of All Saints hymns in Voices United such as the 19th century hymn “For All the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest.”
The word Halloween is a derivation of the phrase All Hallows Eve which was what the night before All Saints Day was called. Superstitiously it was intended to frighten unsettled souls and help them find their eternal rest and sainthood. Which seems a long way from giving little chocolate bars and suckers to small children in superhero costumes. No, history is not the reason Halloween makes me think of church.
What I have observed is that Halloween has grown in importance to some over the years. It has become another commercial season that extends backwards from October 31 and used as a marketing tool for selling everything from scary movies to decorations to spooky themed baking shows. The latest trend seems to be huge inflatable ghosts, goblins, grim reapers, and jack-o-lanterns. Last week I saw the outstretched arms of a kraken appearing to envelope a house from the inside. Now, that’s commitment!! Some people seem to have great fun with Halloween as a way of marking time and keeping ritual in their lives. And more power to them. My intention here is not to be the Ebenezer Scrooge of Halloween.
We’re getting closer. I would suggest that Halloween provides evidence of our innate need to have ritual in our lives. Time is eternal, constant, and sometimes boring. So it is we need to mark time and give it significance ourselves. We call this ritual. Israel established this in their formation by taking the seventh day and declaring it a day of rest. As Jewish author Harold Kushner has written, Sabbath says we control time rather than time controlling us. The great transitional moments in our lives have historically been marked by religious rituals such as baptism, weddings, and yes, funerals. These rituals matter because these events matter. They are significant moments and we do well to pause, reflect, and even celebrate the passing of time. Religious holidays accomplish the same thing.
I suspect that the growth in popularity of secular events like Halloween or Grey Cup or Santa’s Christmas or Valentines or St. Patrick’s or outlandish birthdays or make-your-own festival day is related to the diminished role of church in society and the neglect of spiritual development. They are proof that human beings need ritual and where it is not provided in authentic ways, they will create it for themselves.
But to be meaningful, ritual needs to do more than simply mark time, it must also have connect to a deeper purpose. Fun is great but fun isn’t deep. Halloween can’t give expression to the thankful joy of having a child or be of comfort standing beside a grave.
Which is why Halloween makes me think of church.
But I like candy and costumes too.
Grace and peace,
Michael
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