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2009 Interfaith Thanksgiving Service - Temple Israel With a Heart Overflowing in Gratitude
by Ken Garfield
The gentleman I chatted with Tuesday as we headed home from the annual interfaith Thanksgiving service spoke for many of the 1,250 worshipers there when he said, “I believe this is my favorite service of the year.”
It has been stunning to see the growth of this Mecklenburg Ministries tradition, not just in attendance and not just even in the quality of the liturgy and music. There is a deepening hunger for this opportunity, a sense among so many in our city that this is a rare chance to come together just before Thanksgiving to thank God. To celebrate our differences. To forget about our differences in the oneness of singing “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
I believe, too, that we hunger for the beautiful blend of purpose and lightheartedness that marks this service. These are obviously serious times, and we are often soooo serious in our own houses of worship. Yet on this night, we come together to watch clergy in a rainbow of robes walk together down the aisles. We listen to Rev. Amy Jacks Dean use the Grand Canyon, stars and a serious lack of a tent to make a spiritual point. We have kids and people of all ages and persuasions singing. And in the audience we have people from all walks of life, sides of town, houses of worship – together, they are seeing old friends, singing, laughing and embracing this once-a-year opportunity to give thanks in a manner we don’t often get in this world.
View Pictures and be Inspired by words of Thanksgiving:
Rabbi Murray Ezring’s Centering for Worship
Rev. Amy Jack’s Dean Thanksgiving Sermon
Youth Leadership Council Introduction
Carol Hardison’s Invitation to the Offering
Dr. Maria Hanlin’s Affirmation of Purpose
Rabbi Micah Streiffer’s Children’s Story
Rev. Monica Redmond’s Invitation to the 2010 Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul Baptist. Church
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