by Kathleen Simley, Communications Director at First Lutheran Church
This year, All Saints Sunday feels different for me. Just a month ago, I lost my mom, and the grief is still raw and real—some days it’s a quiet ache, other days it hits me like a wave I didn’t see coming. I know I’m not alone in that feeling. Many of us are carrying fresh grief this year, like the family of Rev. Harlan Heier and others who will remember loved ones on All Saints Sunday on November 2.
Losing someone you love changes you. It reminds you just how deeply love is woven into who we are and how that love doesn’t end, even when life does. Grief has no timeline and no single path. Some days bring peace; others bring tears. But through it all, our faith reminds us that death does not have the final word.
That’s what makes All Saints Sunday so meaningful. It’s a day to remember and give thanks for all who have gone before us—those who shaped our faith, shared their love and left fingerprints on our hearts. At First Lutheran, we will remember the saints from our congregation who have died in the past year.
But this day is also for all of us—for anyone who carries the memory of a loved one, no matter how long it has been. You are invited to bring a framed photo of someone you have lost to place on the Remembrance Table on Sunday. Together, these photos will tell a story of love that endures and faith that connects generations across time.
As I walk through my own grief, I am deeply aware of the gift of a faith community that holds us when we can’t hold ourselves. The prayers, the hugs, the simple words of “I’m thinking of you”—they remind me that we don’t grieve alone. We grieve with hope. Hope in a God who holds our loved ones close. Hope in the promise that one day we will be reunited with them and all the saints who have gone before us.
