About Worship
Worship at All Saints might look and feel a little different. We carefully and prayerfully select a worship theme each season, and we choose songs and liturgical elements that help communicate that theme and bring us closer to God and to one another.
All Saints Lutheran Church is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and participates in the Synod Authorized Ministry (SAM) program offered by the Southeastern Iowa Synod. Bishop Amy Current has authorized Wanda Barber, Matthew Reece, and Julie Schoville to be Synod Authorized Ministers able to preside over all worship services and offer pastoral care. The Synod provides training and instruction throughout the year and fully supports this program.
Colors for the season of Pentecost: Autumn/November (09.06.2026 – 11.22.2026)
Time after Pentecost (09.06.2026 – 11.22.2026): Green is used, to indicate our growth in faith as we follow the teachings and ministry of Christ. Some assemblies use differing shades of green throughout the Sundays after Pentecost, a lighter green in summer and a darker green in fall.
Reformation Sunday (10.25.2026): The liturgical color for Reformation Sunday in the ELCA is red, symbolizing the Holy Spirit’s fire, courage, and the ongoing reform of the church. Red paraments and vestments on this day visually proclaim God’s radical grace and the call to be a continually reforming, Spirit-led community.
All Saints Sunday (11.01.2026): For All Saints Sunday, the liturgical color in the ELCA is white. White symbolizes joy, light, resurrection hope, and the communion of all the saints in Christ, both living and departed.
Christ the King (11.22.2026): The final day of the church year uses white, a festive color suggesting light, joy, and the celebration of our Lord.
Worship Information
The Sunday morning Worship Service will be at 10 am in the sanctuary. This link will open the congregational text for the Sunday morning worship service for the month of September. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yyIkFxxDGXs0S8lyD9vQH70gJtJvZCa1/view?usp=sharing
Pentecost: Autumn/November Season (09.06.2026 – 11.22.2026)
Theme & Write-up
Written by the Director of Music Ministries
We are all saints: Teach us to love and serve all of God’s children
At All Saints Lutheran Church, our name reminds us of something important: all of us are saints. Not because we are perfect, or because we have somehow earned a special status, but because in baptism God has called each of us beloved, claimed us as God’s own, and joined us to the body of Christ. Throughout this season, we will reflect on what it means to live as saints in the ordinary places of our lives. The saints are not only the people whose names we remember or whose stories fill the pages of church history. Saints are people like us—people who laugh and grieve, stumble and begin again, care for one another, and seek to follow Jesus. To be a saint is to recognize that God is at work in our lives and then to allow that grace to shape how we live with one another.
As All Saints, we are called to see all people as children of God and to practice the love and service that Jesus places at the heart of faithful living. This means widening our circle of compassion, welcoming those who may feel like outsiders, caring for those who are hurting, and recognizing the dignity and sacred worth of every person we encounter. It means discovering that serving God’s children is not simply something we do for others; it is one of the ways God forms us into the people we are created to be. During this season, we will ask God to teach us how to love more deeply, serve more generously, forgive more freely, and walk more faithfully alongside our neighbors. All of these ideas are encompassed by our worship theme for the rest of Pentecost: “We are all saints: Teach us to love and serve all of God’s children.”
Altarscape
Sunday, September 6th – 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Ardor (Worship Musicians)
The musicians rehearse from 9:00 to 9:45 am every Sunday morning. You are invited to join us in leading music during the worship service. The musicians for worship can find the service orders and music in the crate on the back pew in the sanctuary for each week. Contact the Director of Music Ministries or the church office if you plan to help lead worship.
Introduction
Conflict is a part of relationships and life in community. Jesus’ words in today’s gospel are often used in situations having to do with church discipline. The prophet Ezekiel tells of warning the wicked to turn from their ways, and Paul reminds us that love is the fulfilling of the law. We gather in the name of Christ, assured that he is present among us with gifts of peace and reconciliation.
Prayer of the Day
O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy. Without your help, we mortals will fail; remove far from us everything that is harmful, and lead us toward all that gives life and salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Scripture
Ezekiel 33:7-11 The prophet’s responsibility to warn the people
God appointed Ezekiel as a sentinel for the house of Israel. Ezekiel must faithfully convey God’s warnings to the people. Remarkably, God—who is about to attack Jerusalem—gives a warning with the hope that repentance will make the attack unnecessary.
Psalm 119:33-40 I desire the path of your commandments. (Ps. 119:35)
Romans 13:8-14 Live honorably as in the day
The obligation of Christians is to love one another and so fulfill the heart and goal of the law. Clothes make the person as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and live today in light of the future God has in store for us.
Matthew 18:15-20 Reconciliation in the community of faith
Jesus offers practical advice to his disciples on how individuals—and the church as a whole—should go about restoring relationships when one member has sinned against another.
Fellowship Time
After worship there is time for refreshments and fellowship in the gathering space.