All Saints Sunday 2024

Dr. Robert Tobias, of blessed memory, was a part of the Lutheran Orthodox dialog that took place some decades ago. He shared an incident that happened in Easter Europe, I believe it was in Romania, in which he was walking with and Orthodox Priest. The Priest’s beautiful rural church surrounded by its cemetery was in view. And in the conversation, Dr. Tobias asked, “How many members does your congregation have?” After an uncomfortable pause Dr. Tobias was fearful his question might have been offensive. But he was taken by surprise when the Priest finally answered. “I can only give you a rough estimate. “I know how many active communicate members we have, and I know how many are buried in the cemetery, but I can only guess at the number of our members who have been buried elsewhere.” Dr. Tobias had a newfound appreciation of the Communion of Saints!