2019 Thanksgiving Interfaith Prayer Service

On Tuesday, November 26th, OP held its annual Thanksgiving Prayer Service. This year it was a unique service because unlike most prayer services and masses, this event hosted religious leaders from various faiths around Summit. Oratory welcomed Rabbi Avi Friedman from Congregation Ohr Shalom, a Baptist minister, Rev. Emilie Boggis from Beacon Unitarian Universalist Church, Deacon Lewis from a Presbyterian church, and a Baháí representative. They each took a turn giving a story about Thanksgiving in their religion and shared a prayer or hymn with the whole school. It was a great way to see how other religions celebrated the same holidays as we do in an interesting and engaging way. The prayer service ended with each grade’s donated food being brought up the aisle and given to the people who work at Grace Food Pantry.

After the prayer service, the Campus Ministry Team played a video that they made about Thanksgiving. The video showed OP brothers celebrating Turkey Day with some of their favorite teachers, Mr. Campobello, Mr. Gordon, and Mrs. Gribbin. The group ate a traditional Thanksgiving meal and talked about their favorite parts of Thanksgiving. They also joked about the mayhem that was going on during the whole dinner. Their dinner ended with a group prayer and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

The next part of the video included various students saying what they were thankful for and what their favorite part of Thanksgiving was. The video ended with a surprise message from Mr. Sinden telling everyone to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.