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Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service For Families

A service for families with young children to conduct at their Thanksgiving meal. Based on the idea of the Passover Seder, this is an ecumenical service with a retelling of the Thanksgiving Story included, along with ideas for usage. Happy Thanksgiving!

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imabima
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23K views5 pages

Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service For Families

A service for families with young children to conduct at their Thanksgiving meal. Based on the idea of the Passover Seder, this is an ecumenical service with a retelling of the Thanksgiving Story included, along with ideas for usage. Happy Thanksgiving!

Uploaded by

imabima
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Service

for
Thanksgiving
Lighting the Festival Lights

May these lights fill our home with light and love.
May we all be blessed at this time of thanksgiving.
Let Your face shine on us, O God.

Thank you, God, for keeping us alive


and bringing us to this season of joy.

Blessing the Wine

We bless the wine to remind ourselves of our blessings and bounty.


As we raise our full cups, we think of the fullness of our lives.

We are grateful for all that we have.


As we lift our cups of wine,
let us each share a blessing in our lives.

Questions……
uestions for thought, for discussion, for action…
action

It is a sign of freedom to be able to ask questions.


On this night of giving things, we celebrate our freedom as Americans.

Tonight we ask these questions and answer them for ourselves and those
around the table.

What are we thankful for?


What are we thankful for as Americans?
What can we bring to the country this year?
What can we do to make the world a better place?
Blessing the Bread
The Pilgrims struggled and were hungry, but
they kept going and survived. We remember all
those who are hungry even today as we lift and
bless the bread.

We are grateful for the blessing of food.


We are grateful for those who grew and produced
this food that we eat.

O God, Source of life, compassion, and justice, grant us wisdom and strength that
we may lift our lamps for freedom, justice, and compassion. Amen.

The Festive Meal


*You can tell the Thanksgiving story before the meal,
after the meal, or during the meal.
meal.

Blessing After Eating

To be thanks-giving, because we can.


To be thanks-giving, because of what we have been given.
To be thanks-giving, because in giving we are given.

We conclude by saying together:

May we be blessed to spend


next Thanksgiving together as well!
Telling The Story
(You can tell the story during the meal, before the meal, or after the meal.
You can read it or act it out.)

Four hundred years ago, the king in England did not allow his subjects
to pray to God in the way that they wanted to. The king said: “You
must pray as I do or you will be thrown into prison.” This made some
people very sad.

“Let’s leave this country,” said the sad English people to each other and
so they left their homes and went to Holland. They called themselves
“Pilgrims,” which means people who travel to find a safe and happy
place to live.

In Holland, things were good for a bit but as time went on, the Pilgrims
were not happy there either. Their children were forgetting how
important freedom was as they learned to be Dutch.

“This is not going to work!” said the Pilgrim mothers and fathers, and
so they decided to come to America, a land that was open and wild and
free. So they hired a ship, called the Mayflower, to take them across the
ocean to America.

It was very crowded on the ship because there were one hundred
people on board. It was cold and uncomfortable. The ship bounced and
rolled on the rough sea. It took two months to get from Holland to
America. Children cried and were sick. Mothers and fathers cried too.

When they finally caught sight of the land, it looked to be cold and
hard and bare, because it was winter time and there wasn’t much
greenery to see. Finally, after much searching, the tired Pilgrims
landed at a place we now call Plymouth Rock.

That first year was very hard. It was cold and snowy, and they had no
houses except whatever they could build after their long journey.
They didn’t have enough food to eat. Many people took sick and many
people died.
But spring did come and the sun shined on the Pilgrims. The snow
melted and green returned to the trees. They made friends with the
Indians, who showed them how to plant corn and wheat and barley.
Their crops did well and they were happy.

After the summer came the fall, and the farmers gathered their wheat
and barley and corn. It was enough to save for the winter that they
knew was coming.

“Let us thank God for it all,” they said. “God made the sun shine and the
corn grow.”

“Then,” they said, “Let there be a great big party of thanksgiving. We’ll
invite the Indians to join us and we can celebrate together.”

And so they did. There was turkey and duck and geese, cakes and
bread and fish and vegetables. It was a grand feast! Many Indians
came to the party and brought food of their own to share. The party
went on for three days.

Before each meal, they would thank God together for their blessings. It
was a big celebration with races and games and dancing and singing.

It had been a hard journey for the Pilgrims and there were hard times
ahead too, but this celebration of Thanksgiving was a good way to
thank God for each step of their way.

Ever since then, Thanksgiving has been celebrated in America.

So we tell the story still today, to remember our blessings too.


Thoughts on Usage
Having young children at the table presents the challenge of understanding and
involvement. Rather than eat a meal without any preamble to its purpose, use
this brief opportunity to interest and involve your children. You may decide to
“pick and choose” from the words in this service, or use it as written. You know
best what your children will sit through.

The symbols and order of this service is similar to the order of the Passover Seder,
a ritual that you may be familiar with. The words have been changed to reflect
ecumenical ideas. Feel free to put some of your own religious words into the
service as well.

Consider spending some time during the day visiting a soup kitchen or sorting
toys to give away. Visit a nursing home or a hospital. There are many
opportunities for helping others on Thanksgiving.

Incorporate foods from your own ethnic heritage at the Thanksgiving table.
These foods that we eat are considered “traditional American” but what are the
traditions in your own family that you bring to the American table? Perhaps
your family eats tortillas, nan, or pita. Bringing your own cultural heritage into
an American custom opens the door for conversations about your own family’s
journey to America.

Welcome guests to your Thankgiving table. Like the tradition of the Jewish
holiday of Passover, this is a chance to welcome someone to our homes who may
not have a place to go, and an excellent way to teach your children about
welcoming others.

This service can be just a starting place for a family conversation about thanks
and giving. As your children grow and are able to understand more and more,
add in new and different elements to keep the focus on gratitude and helping
others.

May your celebration be full and enriching.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rabbi Phyllis A. Sommer


http://imabima.blogspot.com

I would love to hear your family’s Thanksgiving traditions and ideas.


Feel free to share with me your ideas and how you used this Service.
[email protected]

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