A spirit of thanksgiving, community and celebration will be fostered during an interfaith service in Oneonta on Tuesday night, an organizer said.
The Oneonta Interfaith Committee will present a Thanksgiving service at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church at the corner of Main Street and Walling Avenue. The program will include readings, singing, choir pieces and a message by a minister.
The Interfaith Thanksgiving Service is a time when people set aside their differences and focus on thankfulness, fellowship and goodwill, service coordinator Ric Chrislip said Sunday.
The committee also will collect nonperishable foods to meet local needs, according to a news release. A reception after the service will be in the social hall of the church, also known as the ``Red Door'' Church.
In the church sanctuary at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, anyone may join an impromptu choir that will rehearse ``We Gather Together'' by John Ness Beck and ``Thanks Be to God'' by Judy Hunnicutt. Mike Jones, director of music and organist at the First United Presbyterian Church, will work with the choir, which will lead the congregation in hymns and responses.
The Rev. Craig Schwalenberg, of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, will speak on ``Thanks Giving: Thanks Receiving.'' He moved to Oneonta in August with his wife, Cheryl DeDecker, from Milwaukee, Wis.
At the service Tuesday, worship leaders will be from different faiths and backgrounds. Presenters will include Oneonta Mayor John Nader, who will read a Thanksgiving proclamation; Barbara Roberts, cantor at Temple Beth El in Oneonta; members of the Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery in Otego; members of the Osmanli Dergahi community of the Naks-i'bendi Hakkani Sufi Order (Muslim) of Sidney Center; and the Rev. Cynthia Walton-Leavit of the host congregation. Chrislip said the Oneonta Interfaith Committee has 10-member congregations and is open to others. The Thanksgiving service is held at a member worship site on a rotating basis, he said.
The service is designed to celebrate ``things we have in common'' in a format acceptable to different faiths, Chrislip said. The earliest record of the committee was in 1981, when it was called the Oneonta Interchurch Committee, he said, and that year, a Thanksgiving service was held.
Transportation to and from the service Tuesday is available, organizers said, and for more information, call the Red Door Church office at 432-7520. The church is accessible to handicapped visitors and provides large-print bulletins and hearing devices.
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