November 1, 2026 Order of Worship
Prelude, Fugue, and Variation (Cesar Franck) – Geoffrey Liu
Welcome – Richard Thomas
Opening Prayer – Zak Lewis
Leader: Good morning, God! On this All–Saints Sunday, we give you thanks for those who walked before us, whose lives bore witness to your grace. We remember those who mentored us in faith, not because they were perfect, but because they were honest, faithful, and true.
People: We thank you, O God, for those whose integrity planted seeds of faith in our lives.
Leader: Some sowed through words of wisdom.
People: Some through acts of kindness.
Leader: Some through steady presence in difficult seasons. They lifted us up!
People: Sowers scattering seeds across the fields of our lives, they planted in us your good news!
Leader: Their faith took root in us, and through your Spirit, continues to grow.
People: We remember teachers, parents, pastors, friends, and companions in faith who showed us that discipleship is more than appearance.
Leader: They taught us to seek the deep roots of mercy, generosity, and justice rather than the shallow success of the world’s measures.
People: Make our hearts good soil, ready to receive your word with joy and courage!
Leader: When we were tested, the saints encouraged us to not fall away.
People: When fear and distraction threatened to choke our faith, they pointed us again to Jesus.
Leader: The seeds of their faithful witness continue to bear fruit and flourish in our lives in ways they never imagined.
People: Their trust in you, God, has yielded a harvest of faith across generations.
Leader: Gather us now with all your saints, living and departed. Help us to be like them, to live with integrity, and to sow generously the seeds of your kingdom.
People: That the good news of Christ may take root, grow deep, and bear fruit a hundredfold!
Leader: Gracious God, we thank you for the saints!
All: Make us faithful sowers, authentic disciples, and fruitful servants, that future generations may come to know your love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen!
For All the Saints – UMH #711
Installation of Clifford Reilly to Christian Ministry
SPRC Chair: Dear friends, today we welcome and celebrate Cliff Reilly as he joins us in ministry here at Kent United Methodist Church. Cliff has been selected as the next Director of the Handbell Choir.
Pastor: Cliff, because all of our ministries are done in the service of Jesus Christ for the purpose of making Christian disciples at Kent United Methodist Church, we want to consecrate you to this holy vocation.
Questions to the Director of the Handbell Choir
Pastor: Do you this day name yourself as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ?
Cliff: I do.
Pastor: Will you devote yourself to the service of God and your neighbor in the world and to the formation of Christian disciples in this church?
Cliff: I will.
Pastor: Will you so live that you enable this church to be a people of love, peace, justice, and Godly purpose?
Cliff: I will.
Pastor: Will you do all in your power to lead with excellence in the ministries for which you have been chosen?
Cliff: I will.
Presentation of the Word
Pastor: Cliff, please accept this Bible as a gift from your new congregation. Lead us in such ways that our faith is strengthened, our hope enlarged, our commitment to Christ, his love and justice, is deepened, and the Kingdom of God and its values revealed for all the world to see. In other words, please help us to live out God’s word in our everyday lives!
SPRC Chair: Cliff, we thank you for all that you will do to lead this church, to enliven our ministry, to help us to grow in faith, and to go into the world in risk-taking mission and service! Please know how excited we all are to have you now accept God’s calling to lead us in music ministry. We gratefully and with enthusiasm receive your leadership and commit ourselves to work alongside you in all that is required to grow this church.
Pastor: Church, let’s pray…Creating and Loving God, look with favor upon Cliff as he reaffirms his commitment to follow Christ and to serve in his name. Give him courage, patience, and vision, and strengthen us all in our Christian vocation of witness to the world and generous-loving service to others. God help us to raise up the next generation of faithful followers and to make beautiful music while doing it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Time with Young Disciples – Stephanie McIlwain Miller
Pie Jesu (Andrew Lloyd Weber) – Sanctuary Choir
– Liz Gough & Trevor Bygland, soloists
Scripture Reading – Zak Lewis
Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew
The author of the book of Matthew is anonymous, but tradition says it’s written by Matthew the tax collector some 30-40 years after the resurrection of Jesus. Structured like the 5 books of Moses, this Gospel speaks especially to the Jewish followers of Jesus. In today’s reading Jesus teaches that God’s love is extravagant and even wasteful like a person who plants seeds in every kind of soil in the hope that it will produce. Our reading is Matthew 13:1-9…
Matthew 13:1-9 (The Message)
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he taught them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty, a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. Are you listening to this? Really listening? If you have ears, hear!”
Message – Why Jesus? Because He is Wasteful and Generous with Love – Pastor Jim
Offering Our Gifts to God – For the Beauty of the Earth (arr. Cathy Moklebust) – Handbell Choir
Doxology – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, UMH #89, v.1
Prayer of Dedication
Leader: All that we have, we have from you, Creator and Preserver of all.
People: Accept these gifts which we now offer. Help us to make the whole of life an offering and every thought a prayer.
Holy Communion
The Great Thanksgiving
Remembering the Saints: Kent UMC Members Who Have Died This Year
Pastor: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, God we pray that you will strengthen us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. Now we lift up to you, Holy God, those members of our church, saints who have finished their course since last year’s All Saints Day. As we read their names, we ring the bells, light a candle of remembrance, and trust them into your care.
Rozalia Baranyizigiye Jan Barker
David Biles Janet Craigue
Mark Follmer Sandy Harmon
Melvin Knott Ed Lindsley
Carol Mayberry McClain Rev. Dr. Keat Yeoh
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
Music During Communion – Impromptu in G-flat Major, op. 90/3 (Franz Schubert) Geoffrey Liu
Lighting Candles of Remembrance
After receiving the communion elements, you are invited to light a candle
in remembrance of your beloveds.
I Sing a Song of the Saints of God – UMH #712
Blessing
For All the Saints (setting by John Weaver) – Geoffrey Liu
Resources for Worship
Opening Prayer is by Jim Head-Corliss for worship at Kent UMC, November 1, 2026.