Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Liz Maxwell on All Saints Sunday, November 2, 2025.
You can read the scriptures for this service here: Daniel 7:1-3,15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31.
Sermons and audio content from the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in the City of New York
Much of our parish budget supports salaries, utilities and other unglamorous infrastructure of our common life. This in turn makes our programs possible; it keeps our doors open wide, our music soaring and our care for one another steady even in — especially in — hard times. What you pledge to give today will help us plan for tomorrow. If we give what we can, we will continue to receive all of the soul liberating gifts that Church of the Ascension has to offer including our inspiring worship, programming, and community.
In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz addresses the federal shutdown’s immediate harm: the halt of SNAP benefits, leaving 1.7 million New Yorkers — 39% of them children — without food assistance. She outlines Ascension’s response alongside diocesan partners: scaling up pantry support, offering emergency food bags (for those with and without kitchen access), and providing grocery gift cards as funds allow. Parishioners are invited to donate to the Rector’s Discretionary Fund and bring nonperishables; advocacy for reinstating benefits is underway. As we observe All Saints Day, we’re called to meet Christ in the hungry and respond with mercy and justice.