November 2nd 2025 All Saints Day

 Today we are celebrating All Saints, which of course gives us reason to celebrate all those who have gone before us in faith. Those who shaped the faith of the church and those that shaped our own faith. It’s also a day for us to reflect on who we are in Christ, and we have much to celebrate.

Collectively we are a growing church, one which is increasing in diversity in both ethnicity and age, one which is increasing its giving to the wider church, we are an eco-church we’ve just attained silver and are heading off to Gold, we are connecting more closely with our schools and care homes and once again supporting a foodbank and of course we are repairing the roof but we’re not perfect there is still much to do, some of us are hurting.

 I heard a beautiful sermon last week, expertly crafted by The Very Revd Mark Oakley the Dean of Southwark Cathedral, if you haven’t heard it, I commend it to you.

He spoke eloquently and personally on his and others disappointment with the house of bishop’s decision to make the Prayers of Love and Faith go through more processes and ones which will make it more difficult for them to be sanctioned by the church.

The pain I heard in the Deans words has echoed through my week. I have been unable to shake the feeling that the church of England is making a huge mistake. The process which was showing such promise seems to be shuddering to a halt, the LGBTQI community are still excluded from the equality they are owed, and we have failed to learn from past mistakes.

This is not a ‘problem’ which will go away, these are children of God being discriminated against, denied their personhood and their relationships the space and recognition which they should have in Gods Church. The Church is attempting to exclude faithful loving people from the human expression of Gods Kingdom on earth.

When I say The Church, I don’t mean All Saints. Usually, our pride flag is flying over the west door but unfortunately the wind has damaged it and it will be returned to its place on Monday. I’m often approached by the public about the flag, some demanding I remove it, some delighted that it there and sometimes a curiosity about why a church would nail its colours to the mast so clearly at all…and I say…

Our inclusive theology here at All Saints isn’t accidental its chosen and learned, its thought about, wrestled with and witnessed and sometimes we are at odds with other Christians because of it… but we believe in an inclusive church, a church which does not discriminate on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender, mental health, physical ability, race or sexuality. We know that we are called to follow Christ and to love our neighbour as ourselves and sometimes that means that we challenged by the structures and the processes of the church but we know that we will be on the right side of history, we are choosing love not hate, inclusion not exclusion and we do to others as you would have them do to you.

The beatitudes which we have heard from Luke’s gospel today demonstrate the topsy Turvey world of God. You can think you have all the answers but then something unexpected and wonderful happens which changes your understanding, recalibrates you to love and sends you off in another direction. Today’s reading says we should love our enemies, do good to those that hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. So let us pray for those who persecute the LQBTQI community using a rewrite of the beatitudes by Jay Hulme:

 Blessed are the outcasts;
the ostracized, the outsiders.
Blessed are the scared;
the scarred, the silent.
Blessed are the broken;
for they are not broken.
Blessed are the hated;
for they are not worthy of hate.
Blessed are those who try;
those who transform, who transition.
Blessed are the closeted;
God sees you shine anyway.
Blessed are the queers;
who love creation enough to live the truth of it,
despite a world that tells them they cannot.
And blessed are those
who believe themselves unworthy of blessing;
what inconceivable wonders you hold.

We are All Saints, we too can turn our hand to rewriting, to challenging the status quo, so today I encourage you to:

Sign the LLF open letter from the Inclusive Church Network, you can find it on All Saints Social page

Follow the 8 positive ways to respond for Together CofE also posted on our social pages, which include writing to our Bishop, standing for deanery synod, and writing to your MP.

We know that God always goes to the margins, he looks for the lost sheep, he stands with the widow, he protects the weak and sends the rich away hungry.

Proverbs 24 says

If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

Edmund Burke said The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

God looks for people who will take the initiative, speak truth in hard places and we are those people, and this is the difficult time.

Amen.

Rev'd Emily Sharman