Sundays at All Hallows (May 31, 2026)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. It is a major festival of the Church Year, which celebrates a doctrine that is unique to Christianity, the doctrine of one God in three Persons, the holy Trinity.

In this Sunday’s message we take a look at this doctrine, a longstanding article of faith for Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, and other Christians.

GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

Open this link in a new tab to hear Cynthia Boener’s arrangement of the American folk hymn tune PROSPECT for harp.

Christ Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near; for through him we have access in the one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2.17-18

[Let us worship God.]

Open this link in a new tab to hear Reginald Hebert’s “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!”

1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

2 Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before thee,
Who wert and art and evermore shall be.

3 Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

[Let us confess our sins to God our Father]

Silence

Heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault;
by what we have done
and by what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ who died for us,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Christopher Idle’s “God, We Praise You!” (Te Deum).

1 God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
God, we name you sovereign Lord!
Mighty King whom angels worship,
Father, by your church adored:
all creation shows your glory,
heaven and earth draw near your throne
singing 'Holy, holy, holy,
Lord of hosts, and God alone!'

2 True apostles, faithful prophets,
saints who set their world ablaze,
martyrs, once unknown, unheeded,
join one growing song of praise,
while your church on earth confesses
one majestic Trinity:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God, our hope eternally.

3 Jesus Christ, the King of glory,
everlasting Son of God,
humble was your virgin mother,
hard the lonely path you trod:
by your cross is sin defeated,
hell confronted face to face,
heaven opened to believers,
sinners justified by grace.

4 Christ, at God's right hand victorious,
you will judge the world you made;
Lord, in mercy help your servants
for whose freedom you have paid:
raise us up from dust to glory,
guard us from all sin today;
King enthroned above all praises,
save your people, God, we pray.

[Let us pray.]

Silence

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants
grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of
the eternal Trinity, and by your divine power to worship you as
One: we humbly pray that you would keep us steadfast in this faith
and evermore defend us from all adversities; through Christ our
Lord. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD



A reading from the Book of Exodus.
Exodus 34:1-8

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.’ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, ‘The Lord.’ The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed,

‘The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.’

And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped.

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Eric Becker’s “Glory and Praise” (Benedictus es).

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

1 Blessed are you, O Lord God our Father,
praiseworthy and exalted for ever;
blessed and holy and glorious your name,
exalted for all ages.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

2 Blessed are you in the temple of your glory,
praiseworthy, glorious, your name for ever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
above all for ever.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

3 Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon cherubim,
praiseworthy, exalted above all forever.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

A reading from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Judy Gresham’s “How I Love You, God My Father.”

1 How I love you, God my Father;
endless praise belongs to you.
All my worship I now offer
by the Spirit and in truth.

2 How I love you Christ my Saviour;
endless praise belongs to you.
All my worship I now offer
by the Spirit and in truth.

3 Holy Spirit help me worship
when my words have all run dry.
Deeply groaning, lift my longings
to the throne of God most high.

*4 Oh.....

5 Praise you Father, Son and Spirit:
this shall ever be my song.
All my worship I will give you,
God eternal, Three in One.
All my worship I will give you,
God eternal, Three in One.

*v4.Optional/ad lib worship

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew.
Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

[May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.]

Silence

Oh No! It’s Trinity Sunday!

Have you noticed that articles, podcasts, and sermons about the Trinity typically begin with a disclaimer that the Trinity is a difficult subject to explain and consequently to grasp? This strikes me as a form of self- fulfilling prophesy. The writer, the podcaster, or the preacher predicts an expectation and then turns that expectation into a reality.

While it is true that due to our human limitations we cannot know everything about God and many things about God will always be a mystery to us, Christians believe that God has revealed enough about himself through the Bible and through Jesus that we have a reasonable idea of God’s nature.

In today’s message I propose to take a look at what Christians have historically believed about God from his revelation of himself in the Bible and in Jesus. I will be addressing to two common misperceptions of Jesus and the Holy Spirit that recent studies of the state of theology in the United States and Canada found are held by Christians in North America.

Christians have historically believed that there is only one God, one Supreme Being who created and sustains all that exists, what human beings are capable of sensing, measuring, and understanding and what is beyond our ken.

Christians are not tritheists as the followers of the Prophet Mohammed mistakenly believe. They do not worship three gods—God, Jesus, and Mary. They worship only the One True God.

Christians historically have believed that God, while one Being with one Substance is three Persons whom Jesus called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus identified himself as the Son. These three Persons are separate and distinct from each other but are undivided in essence. Their divinity is one. Their glory is equal. Their majesty exists together eternally. They all have same qualities. They all are uncreated, immeasurable, and eternal. They all are one eternal, immeasurable, uncreated being—almighty, God, Lord.

This is not in my estimation a difficult concept to grasp. Since the nineteenth century we have learned far more about human psychology than previous generations. We have come to recognize that an individual’s personality is comprised of ego states, different ways in which we think, feel and behave at different times and in different circumstances. These ego states not only interact with each other but with the ego states of other people. An individual may mask their real self with one or more personas, donning a different persona depending upon the situation, acting one way on Friday nights with friends and another on Sunday mornings at church. Some individuals have multiple personalities which may not be aware of each other.

While I am not suggesting that the three Persons of the Trinity are analogous to these phenomena in any way, such phenomena do encourage us to keep an open mind about the triune nature of God. As Hamlet pointed to Horatio’s attention in Shakespeare’s play, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Human knowledge and understanding have their limits. Because we have not yet found something analogous in the natural world does not mean that it does not exist.

An all too common misperception of Jesus in North America, according to the findings of recent studies of the state of theology in the United States and Canada, is that Jesus was a created being and therefore was not divine. This is an ancient heresy, a belief that is the opposite of the orthodox Christian belief that Jesus is the Son, the Second Person of the triune God, uncreated, immeasurable, and eternal. It was proposed by Arius in the fourth century and promoted by the Socinians in the sixteenth century, by the Unitarians in the eighteenth century, and by the Jehovah Witnesses since the late nineteenth century. According to the findings of these surveys, it has made inroads among the evangelical Christians in North America.

In the Gospel of John Jesus clearly identifies himself with God, stating he is one with the Father and he and the Father are one. In several discourses he repeatedly uses the name God gave to Moses, “I Am,” in reference to himself. He represents himself as the fulfillment of the prophesy that one day God himself would teach his people and make them his disciples. He claims his teaching was not his own but came from the Father. He told Phillip who asked him to show him the Father that in seeing Jesus, Phillip had seen the Father. He spoke of being restored to the glory that was rightly his. What triggered the hostility of the Jews toward him was his identification of himself with God. One is left with a choice: Jesus was seriously delusional. Or he was whom he claimed to be.

A second all too common misperception is that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a person, much less the Third Person of the Trinity, almighty, God, and Lord with the Father and the Son. The notion that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and the Son may have contributed to the perception that the Holy Spirit is a force emitted by them. But it is clear from Scripture that it is a person, God himself, who abides and dwells in the believer, not a force. Jesus promises to send a person to take his place, not a force.

Bad theology and poor teaching may largely account for these developments. Contemporary Christian and praise and worship songs that emphasize the triune nature of God are not as common as what may be described as “me and Jesus” songs which, while popular, are often lacking sound biblical language and theology and contribute to the present state of theology in the United States and Canada.

The first article in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Anglican Church’s historic confession of faith, and its Episcopal Church and Methodist Church revisions is this article:

“There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

This is what Christians historically have believed, putting their faith in Jesus and his words. This is what faithful Anglicans, Episcopalians, and Methodists, by the grace of God, believe to this day.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Leach’s “Come, Join the Dance of Trinity.”

Come, join the dance of Trinity,
before all worlds begun--
the interweaving of the Three,
the Father, Spirit, Son.
The universe of space and time
did not arise by chance,
but as the Three, in love and hope,
made room within their dance.

Come, see the face of Trinity,
newborn in Bethlehem;
then bloodied by a crown of thorns
outside Jerusalem.
The dance of Trinity is meant
for human flesh and bone;
when fear confines the dance in death,
God rolls away the stone.

Come, speak aloud of Trinity,
as wind and tongues of flame
set people free at Pentecost
to tell the Savior's name.
We know the yoke of sin and death,
our necks have worn it smooth;
go tell the world of weight and woe
that we are free to move!

Within the dance of Trinity,
before all worlds begun,
we sing the praises of the Three,
the Father, Spirit, Son.
Let voices rise and interweave,
by love and hope set free,
to shape in song this joy, this life:
the dance of Trinity.

[Let us affirm our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.]

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

[Let us pray for the Church and the world.]

Father, we pray for your holy catholic Church
that we all may be one.

Grant that every member of your Church may truly and humbly serve you: 

that your name may be glorified by all people.

We pray for all bishops and other ministers
that they may faithfully preach your word and administer your sacraments.

We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world 

that there may be justice and peace on the earth.

Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake
that your glory may be proclaimed through our lives.

Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble
that they may be delivered from their distress.

We praise you for your saints who have entered their eternal joy
may we also come to share in the fulness of your kingdom.

We pray for our own needs and for those of others:

Silence.

Those present may add their own petitions.

Faithful God,
you have promised to hear the prayers
of all who ask in Jesus’ name.
In your mercy, accept our prayers.
Give us what we have asked in faith,
according to your will:
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Let us give thanks to God for his goodness.]

Almighty God, we praise you for the blessings
brought to the world through your Church.
We bless you for the grace of the sacraments,
for our fellowship in Christ with you and with
each other, for the teaching of the Scriptures,
and for the preaching of your word. We thank
you for the holy example of your saints, for
your faithful servants departed this life, and
for the memory and example of all that has
been true and good in their lives. Number us
with them in the company of the redeemed in
heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

O Lord God Almighty, eternal, immortal, invisible, 

the mysteries of whose being are unsearchable: 

Accept, we pray, our praises for the revelation 

which you have made of yourself, Father, Son, 

and Holy Spirit, three persons, and one God; 

and mercifully grant that ever holding fast to this 

faith we may magnify your glorious name; who 

lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[And now as our Saviour taught us, we pray]

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.


Open this link a new tab to hear the DEDICATION ANTHEM setting of Thomas Ken’s doxology “Praise God from Whom All blessings flow,” from the Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together, #70 (formerly #606).

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,
(Praise God from whom all blessings flow)
Praise Him all creatures here below,
(Praise Him all creatures here below)
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above, praise Him above,
(Praise Him above, praise Him above)
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
(Praise Him above ye heavenly host)
Praise Him above, praise Him above,
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
(Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost)
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen, Amen.
(Hallelujah, Hallelujah)

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen,
Amen, Hallelujah, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen.

GOING OUT AS GOD’S PEOPLE

May the love of the Father enfold us,
the wisdom of the Son enlighten us,
the fire of the Spirit inflame us; and
may the blessing of the triune God
rest upon us, and abide with us,
now and evermore. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Cathy Butler’s “May the Peace of the Lord Be Upon You.”

May the peace of the Lord be upon you,
may it dwell with you day and night;
may it strengthen your heart as you journey,
may it welcome your weary mind.
Its wings to surround your sorrow,
and its light leading onward in your joy;
may the peace of the Lord be upon you,
may it flow from you day and night.

[Instrumental interlude]

May the peace of the Lord be upon you,
may it dwell with you day and night;
may it strengthen your heart as you journey,
may it welcome your weary mind.
Its wings to surround your sorrow,
and its light leading onward in your joy;
may the peace of the Lord be upon you,
may it flow from you day and night.