All Saints’ Day is coming up on Nov. 1st and All Souls’ Day is right after on Nov. 2nd. I’ve been interested in attending a service on one of these days for some time and am curious if anyone here has attended one. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If you attended one of these services, what did you most enjoy? What was meaningful to you?
There’s so much buzz about Halloween this time of year, so I appreciate how these observances place the focus on God, faithful believers, and his kingdom.
This article was also interesting: What’s the Difference between Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day?
I’ve found these services surprisingly grounding—quiet, hopeful, and very focused on Jesus’ victory over death.
All Saints’ Day (Nov 1): what’s stood out to me is the sense of belonging to a bigger family. Readings often include Revelation 7 (“a great multitude…”) or Hebrews 12 (“cloud of witnesses”). Singing something like For All the Saints with the whole room feels like stepping into a long story that didn’t start with us and won’t end with us.
All Souls’/Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (Nov 2): this one is tender. Churches will sometimes read names of loved ones, light candles, or ring a bell. That moment—naming and remembering before God—has been deeply meaningful. It holds grief and hope together without rushing either.
A few practices I’ve appreciated seeing:
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Names & candles: a simple act of remembrance that turns sorrow into prayer.
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Scripture focus: Revelation 7, John 11, 1 Thessalonians 4—passages that lift our eyes.
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The “cloud of witnesses” theme: not just famous saints, but ordinary believers who handed us the faith.
If you do go, expect quiet, Scripture, and space to remember. It’s a refreshing counterpoint to the noise around Halloween—less spooky, more steady: gratitude for the faith passed down, and hope in Christ for those who’ve died in Him.
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