'Focus on the gifts of God': Churches hold Thanksgiving Day worship services

'We all have something to be grateful for'

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Thanksgiving decorations at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. | Courtesy Washington National Cathedral

While for most Americans, Thanksgiving is a time allotted for big family dinners, catching up with relatives and watching football games, for others, it involves going to church.

Many congregations across the United States hold worship services on the day allotted for giving thanks, among them being Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

The National Cathedral, which has approximately 1,500 members, holds an annual Thanksgiving Day service that usually has around 500 attendees, according to spokesperson Kevin Eckstrom.

“This is not new for us,” Eckstrom told The Christian Post. “We have been holding a worship service on Thanksgiving Day for as long as anyone can remember.”

Reeds Mill Church of Madrid, Maine. | Virginia Robie

“It’s also when our Altar Guild kicks into high gear with some really stunning decorations, which then leads into Christmas.”

Eckstrom is hopeful that, for this year’s Thanksgiving service, the observance can be a time when a deeply divided country can come together and be grateful for what they have.

“This year in particular, when everything and everyone seems so divided, we hope that Thanksgiving can be one of the things that pulls people together,” he explained.

“We all have something to be grateful for, and if we can focus on the gifts of God and the things in our lives that we can be thankful for, maybe — just maybe — that can pull us all a little closer together. There is much more that unites us than divides us, and the ability to give thanks is one of those things.”

Reeds Mill Church of Madrid, Maine, a small congregation whose building is in the middle of the woods, has been holding Thanksgiving Day worship for the past two decades.

Virginia Robie of Reeds Mill told CP that the service will include lit lanterns, a 15-minute hymn sing, a time for prayer, reading Scripture, and a sermon from a worship leader.

“Ours is a one-room church, off the road, surrounded by trees (our nick name is ‘Church in the Wildwood,’ like the old hymn), built in 1892,” she added. “The church is today as it was when it was built, with minor exceptions.”

“This church provides a feeling of nostalgia, a sense of stepping back in time to simpler days, simpler times. What better place to celebrate the holiday that essentially began because of a yearning for religious freedom so many years ago?”

According to Robie, the message for this year is titled “Jesus Comes to Dinner” and is based on the biblical account of when a tax collector invited Jesus to his house for dinner and, afterwards, donated generously to the poor.

“I do not know the content of the message, but if I had to guess I think it may emphasize there are many Zacheuses out there who need an invitation to dinner,” Robie said. “And what a fine dinner it would be on Thanksgiving Day!”