Daylight Saving Time 2026 ends for the year so the clock change for the fall takes place Sunday morning at 2 a.m. on November 1. Daylight Saving Time 2026 seems overdue, but it is the same time each year.
The clock changes on the first Sunday in November. Daylight Saving Time starts on the second Sunday in March each year.
And, time to sing again…
Posted by MaryO on October 31, 2026 in Get Involved!, Pender UMC, Videos
Tags: Clock, Daylight saving time, Fall, Sunday, time change, video
Pender Authors: Sharing Faith Through the Written Word
During his sermon, “What’s Right with the Church,” on Sunday, October 25, 2026, Pastor Bruce Johnson highlighted two talented authors from our own Pender family whose books offer inspiration, encouragement, and opportunities for spiritual growth.
Saundra Sandrock, author of A Closer Walk: Spiritual Awakening Through Poetry, invites readers on a journey of faith through heartfelt poetry. Her reflections encourage us to draw closer to God, discover His presence in everyday life, and deepen our spiritual connection.
Some books are read. This one is quietly lived with.
A Closer Walk: Spiritual Awakening Through Poetry is an invitation to slow down, breathe, and let the Holy Spirit speak through verse. Organized into seven deeply felt sections — Poems of Praise, Prayerful Petition, Health Issues, Holidays and Seasons, Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, and Renewal and Awakening — this collection accompanies readers through the full rhythm of the Christian life.
From the quiet trust of a morning prayer to the raw ache of illness, from the wonder of the manger to the weight of Good Friday and the joy of resurrection, these poems meet readers wherever they are. Each one carries the warmth of someone who has walked the faith journey herself — through pain, gratitude, doubt, surrender, and praise.
Whether used as a daily devotional, a companion through a difficult season, a gift for a loved one, or a resource for private reflection and group study, A Closer Walk offers words that linger long after the page is turned.
For every heart that longs to draw nearer — one poem at a time.
Chris Hanak, author of Following the Shepherd: Devotional Reflections on Missionary Stories from Around the World, shares devotional reflections inspired by the experiences of missionaries serving around the globe.
Her book offers glimpses of faith in action and reminds us how God’s love reaches across cultures, communities, and continents.
Both books reflect the many ways God works through the gifts and talents of His people. As Pastor Bruce reminded us in his message, there is much that is right with the Church—and the faithful witness of people like Saundra and Chris is certainly something worth celebrating!
Congratulations to both of our Pender authors! We are grateful for the ways they share their faith, creativity, and love of God through the written word.
Posted by MaryO on October 31, 2026 in Missions, Pender UMC, Posts of Interest
The word “Halloween” (or “Hallowe’en”) means “the evening of Hallows.”
“Hallows” is an older English way of saying “saints” — so, the Evening of Saints.
But why “the evening?” Many ancient cultures in the Mediterranean world and the Middle East, including Jewish cultures, understood the day as beginning with sunset rather than sunrise. This is why Genesis one says, “And it was evening, and it was morning, day one.” (Genesis 1:5). Because the day began with sunset, the first worship service of a given day would be the evening service.
Put it all together and Halloween refers to the first service of worship for All Saints Day. That day falls on November 1 in the Western Christianity. That’s why All Saints Eve (Halloween) is observed on the evening of Oct. 31.
So where or how did this observance get connected to jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, things that go bump in the night, and trick or treating? That connection comes from popular festivals already happening in many cultures worldwide to celebrate the midpoints between a solstice and an equinox, sometimes referred to as “cross-quarter days.” Some cultures understood these as transition times where the lines between realms may become the thinnest.
The Celtic festival of Samhain fell at the cross-quarter day between autumn and winter, between warmth and cold, between harvest and dormancy for the earth, and so, metaphorically, between life and death.
Christian missionaries and bishops, particularly in England and parts of Western Europe, had concerns that some of these practices and beliefs ran counter to the Christian understanding of the resurrection of the dead. The church, beginning in the eighth century, added prayers to Christian masses remembering the dead and anticipating their resurrection. These were some of the first prayers connected to celebrations later known as All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2).
All Saints included prayers for those the church had specifically designated as saints because of their particularly holy lives pointing dramatically to Christ at work in them. All Souls included prayers for all within the church who had died within the past year.
United Methodists and most Protestants have no “official saints.” Thus, we usually combine All Saints and All Souls into a single observance. This celebration in the church accents our understanding of holiness in this life and our hope for resurrection in the age to come.
Cultural Halloween celebrations in the communities in which many of us live have continued to evolve alongside the church celebrations. Many local churches offer safe alternatives to traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating. Others focus more on giving than receiving. Collecting for UNICEF or giving Fair Trade chocolate are ideas for using the occasion to “treat” or give to others.
These activities need not be seen as either defining or limiting the Christian observance of All Saints. Our role in the church is to proclaim our own witness to what makes for holiness (becoming one of the “hallows”) in this life, and our hope for the resurrection of the dead and the fullness of life in the new creation in the age to come.
Adapted from https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-united-methodist-churchs-view-of-halloween
Posted by MaryO on October 31, 2026 in Posts of Interest
Today’s Bible Verse
Posted by MaryO on October 31, 2026 in Books of The Bible, The Holy Bible, Today's Bible Verse
Tags: 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5:8-9, First Epistle of Peter, Today's Bible Verse
