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Annual A.C. interfaith service celebrates giving
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ATLANTIC CITY - About 60 people of various faiths joined in worship Tuesday night to give thanks and to remember those in need.
The Absecon Island Interfaith Clergy have been holding the ecumenical pre-Thanksgiving service for about a decade. Tuesday night's worship was held at St. Andrew by the Sea Lutheran Church and hosted by Covenant House.
Mayor Lorenzo Langford started the service by reading a proclamation of the Thanksgiving holiday written by President Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War. The mayor said Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday because everyone has something to be grateful for.
"Thanksgiving is a holiday that transcends all racial boundaries, all ethnic boundaries, all religious boundaries," Langford said. "Everyone can participate in it."
Clergy of several faiths led prayers and read passages from Scripture about gratitude and the religious obligation to help those in need.
The Rev. Sherwood Cross, associate pastor of Grace Cathedral Baptist Church of Absecon gave a brief sermon and thanked Covenant house for the lives the organization has touched in its 20-year presence in Atlantic City. Not only did it give food and shelter to homeless youth, but those youngsters grew up to touch other people's lives for good, he said.
Matthew 25:35-41 tells how anyone who feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, cares for the sick or visits prisoners, their acts are seen as if they did it for God, Cross said. People should make time to help the needy, and remember that the work is not only for those who need assistance, but for the Lord.
Staff and volunteers of Covenant House "don't walk by," Cross said. "They reach out and give (homeless youth) a hand out and help them become the beautiful people they were meant to be."
The Rev. Steven Siniari, one of the founders of the local branch of Covenant House, said that while the group is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, people of all faiths helped meet its needs over the years. There was a pastor praying in an abandoned saltwater taffy factory who helped them buy chicken dinners for the youngsters, and two rabbis who gave $5,000 to buy clothes for Covenant House clients.
"You name a church, you name a denomination, they haven't turned their backs on us," Siniari said.
The annual interfaith Thanksgiving services started about a dozen years ago between Temple Emeth Shalom in Margate and the Margate Community Church, said the Rev. Paul McKay, retired pastor of the Margate Community Church. A similar service was being held in Ventnor, and eventually the groups merged.
Tuesday night's service was the first time in several years that the service was held in Atlantic City, said Rabbi Gordon Geller, of Temple Emeth Shalom.
Contact Elaine Rose:
609-272-7215
Posted in ATLANTIC CITY on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 2:40 am
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