Harvesting Thanksgiving's spirit through prayer

East Meadow congregants celebrate 35th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service

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As the St. Raphael Parish church chorus sang, congregants from different churches and synagogues joined in harmony on Nov. 20 at the 35th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service.

Held at the Community Reform Temple, the Rev. Dorett Johnson-Agu from the United Methodist Church preached a homily to attendees, who attentively listened and prayed. Religious leaders from different churches and synagogues attended the service alongside their families and friends.

“The service led by the reverend was incredibly moving,” said Rabbi Ronald Androphy of the East Meadow Jewish Center. “The service is one of the highlights of the year here in the East Meadow community because it brings people from different faiths and backgrounds together in one place.”

Androphy said the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday was very present throughout the service as Dorett urged listeners to give thanks for their blessings and reflect on the holiday to give to those less fortunate. “The readings in Dorett’s homily were very representative of the Thanksgiving holiday with regards to joining together and offering thanks to God,” Androphy continued.

Androphy said this year marked a very important Interfaith Thanksgiving service because of the recent presidential campaigns. “It’s especially important for the community to come together this year, especially after the extraordinarily divisive election campaigns that have now ended but are still present in many communities,” he said. “The feeling of togetherness and giving thanks to God was certainly ignited at the service and the church choir added so much grace and uplifting joy to the service.”