November 1st is All Saints Day. As always we will celebrate this festival on the first Sunday in November. On this festival we rejoice in the glorious reality of the communion of saints which is Christ’s whole Church both in heaven and on earth. Recent surveys suggest that there are now 2.4 billion Christians in the world, but the Church here on earth is small in comparison to that “great multitude which no man can number standing before the throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9) – as we hear in the Epistle read on All Saints Day. As in our custom, we will remember those who have departed this life since the last  All Saints Day Queenie Hardaway, Helen Gray, Gregory and Deborah Dixon and Lewis Otto Bell. I love the words of John Keble (1792-1866)

Tis sweet as year by year we lose
Friends out of sight, in faith to muse
How grows in paradise our store.

As Christians we both mourn our loss and rejoice in their gain. What we lose on earth we gain in paradise; what we lose from the present time we gain for the eternal future. “I believe in…the communion of saints.” As we sing in that wonderful hymn of William Walsham How (1823-1897):

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee for all are Thine!

The first Sunday in November brings the end of Daylight Savings Time. Remember to set your clocks back one hour! “Spring forward, fall back.”

Pastor Lucas Witt will be installed as executive director of the Lutheran Mission Society of Maryland at Immanuel Church, Loch Raven and Belvedere, on Saturday, November 23rd at 11:00 A.M. For over a hundred years the Lutheran Mission Society has been bringing “health and wholeness to people through the love and compassion of Jesus Christ” (Mission Statement). Pastor David Maack recently retired after serving as executive director for many years.

November 28th is Thanksgiving Day. Our celebration of the national day of thanksgiving will take place on Thanksgiving Eve at 7:30 P.M. People of a certain age are much given to nostalgia, and I have to admit that as a person “of a certain age” I have real nostalgia for the days when our churches were full on Thanksgiving Day. But that was a very long time ago, and we now have a situation in which perhaps most churches have abandoned the celebration of Thanksgiving Day. But I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by that in a time when so many people ignore even the Lord’s Day, the weekly celebration of the Lord’s resurrection! Now there is nothing wrong with family dinners and football games, but there is something wrong when such things become more important than the worship of the One who has given our nation all good things. In a recent sermon the President of Synod, Pastor Harrison, said that what most scares him about our Synod is ingratitude. Is that also true of our country? Do we Americans take for granted all the blessings that are ours? Perhaps we should all pray with George Herbert (1593-1633):

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

Be sure to read what Bernie Knox has to say about Aldi Gift Certificates for Thanksgiving at the end of this newsletter.

I think everyone will agree that Family Day was a happy occasion. We enjoyed the presence and preaching of Pastor Harmon, the President of the Southeastern District of Synod, and it was good to see so many people we had not seen in some time. And the meal that followed was also much enjoyed. I certainly enjoyed it and want to thank everyone who made Family Day possible.

Congregations of the Southeastern District have been affected by Hurricane Helene. The District activated its Disaster Response Team and at the October church council meeting, our own congregation decided to send aid. If you wish to contribute to hurricane relief you can go to the District website se.lcms.org and there you will be able to make a contribution. The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Sudan and the expanding war in the Holy Land have brought unspeakable suffering to so many of our fellow human beings. Our Synod is trying to provide help to those who suffer You can make a contribution through Synod’s Contributor Care Line (888) 030-4439 or through this secure website: lcms.org/givenow/mercy or you can send a check to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, PO Box 66861, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-6861. Make your check payable to “The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod” and write “LCMS World Relief and Human Care” on the memo line.

We continue to remember in prayer Bridget Bauman, James Bauman, Christopher Bell, Bertha Buchanan. Dana Carmichael, Quilla Downs, Bunny Duckett, Steve and Joyce Eaves, Albert Ford, Frank Ford, Iris Ford, Yolanda Ford, Sean Fortune, Sherry James, Gloria Jones, Althea Masterson, Chris Mokris, Jake Mokris, Mary Mokris. Marion Rollins, Julia Silver, Robert Siperek Jr., Lawrence Smallwood, George Volkman, Dennis Watson, Gary Watson, Julia Ford. Yolanda Ford remains at Future Care, 1046 North Point Road, Baltimore, MD 21224. Julie Watson is now in hospice care at Northwest Hospital.

November 5th is Election Day and, if we have not already voted, this is our opportunity as citizens to exercise our right to vote for those who will govern us in the days ahead. Apart from what may be valid and conscientious reasons for not voting, it is surely our duty as citizens to do so. If for no good reason we fail to do so, do we then have a right to complain when the government disappoints us? It is our duty as Christians to pray that God would guard and guide our nation especially at this time. And it is also our Christian duty in this time of such stark polarization to respect the conscientious decisions of our fellow citizens when they differ from our own. It is the devil who takes delight in creating animosity and hatred in the world.

You may have noticed the new green vestments first worn on Sunday, October 20th. They match the green frontlet – altar cloth – which was made by the widow of Pastor Adolf John Stiemke and given in his memory. I have given these new vestments in memory of my father Charles Louis McClean and my mother Anna Eleanor nee Moesta who in 1911 was baptized by Pastor Theodore Sorge in Jackson Square Church. These vestments are the historic “eucharistic vestments” which from ancient times have been worn by celebrants of the Holy Eucharist..

I again have a new email account, having lost access on October 7th to my “new account.” Richard Brown very kindly created this new account including features to keep me from losing access yet again! Never hesitate to email me at this new address charlesmcclean1942@gmail.com or call me at (10)554-9994!

As we say in the Divine Service: “For the peace of the whole world, for the-well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.”

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean

Aldi Gift Cards for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Again this year OSLC will be providing Aldi’s Gift Cards for Thanksgiving and Christmas to needy families whose names have been provided by the Waverly School. We are including this reminder in our newsletters and bulletins now so that our gifts may be as generous as possible. Please indicate on your check memo line or on an accompanying note that the funds are designated for those gift cards.

In 2023 we accumulated a total of $2,730 to distribute to 13 families. In 2024 our Lenten Soup Supper donations were $361. These donations are also used to support our Gift Card purchases.

Please begin now to think about making donations that will allow us to remember those less fortunate than ourselves provide special meals for their families. These holidays remind us to be thankful fr all the Lord has given us and to celebrate God’s greatest gift of all – the birth of our Savior Jesus.

Thank you!
– Bernie Knox

Mark your calendars now!
Joint Reformation Service of the Baltimore-Area LCMS Churches
Reformation Sunday, October 27^th, 4:00 P.M.
Our Saviour Church
Followed by a reception
Plan on attending and bringing your friends!