Newtown Interfaith Council members welcomed a newcomer into their group and continued planning for an interfaith Thanksgiving gathering during their most recent meeting.

Seven members of the council participated in the October 28 meeting, with five participating via Zoom and two using their cell phones to communicate.

The first order of business was the introduction of the Reverend Bill Donaldson. The president and executive director of Love Has A Home, Donaldson serves as the spiritual director at Sticks and Stones Farm in Newtown. Last month he began leading twice-monthly interfaith/interspiritual worship services at the Huntingtown Road farm.

Donaldson introduced himself and shared information about his new nonprofit. He was welcomed Thursday afternoon by Eman Beshtawii from Al Hedaya Islamic Center; Steve Bamberg, Congregation Adath Israel; Reverend Matt Crebbin, Newtown Congregational Church; Pastor Lori Miller, Newtown United Methodist Church; Rabbi Shaul Praver, Connecticut Department of Corrections; and Reverend Andrea Castner Wyatt, Trinity Episcopal Church.

Donaldson’s demographic, he said, “are the people who are spiritual but not necessarily religious.”

His mission formed with the idea of promoting love and peace, rather than just going against anger and hate.

“Love Has A Home Here has flipped the idea of yard signs I was seeing on daily commutes,” he said. “I am working hard to get a positive message out. Instead of being anti-hate, I’m being pro-love. Instead of being against something, I am being for something.”

Donaldson has heard from people, he said, who have seen his signs “and feel good, while the other signs make them feel conflicted.”

Beshtawii said one of her neighbors has a Love Has A Home Here sign in her property.

“Simple things like seeing these signs make me feel so happy,” she said. Beshtawii said that after seeing another of the Love Has A Home signs elsewhere in Newtown and photographing that one, the post she created on her Facebook page with that image was seen by people around the world.

“I love those signs, and the message they are sharing, and that that is going out to friends and family in the Middle East,” she said.

Miller and Crebbin both complimented Donaldson on the signs and their message. Miller called them “beautiful,” and offered to share their image and information about Donaldson’s mission with her congregation. Crebbin said he too “would be happy to pass along information and share signage.”

In welcoming Donaldson into the informal council, Crebbin explained that the town’s leaders of faith “don’t have massive bylaws. We have common ministries and purposes. We serve folks of all beliefs.”

Interfaith Thanksgiving

The group then changed its focus to the upcoming Interfaith Thanksgiving Gathering, which it began discussing last month. This year’s is being planned for Sunday, November 21.

It will begin at 5 pm and be hosted by Newtown United Methodist Church, 92 Church Hill Road. Miller said she and her members “are looking forward to hosting it.”

Discussion followed, with quick agreement among those present to not have a post-event gathering or coffee hour this year.

The gathering itself will be done in person, with a livestream option also offered.

Crebbin said he has heard from members of his church that they continue to prefer the livestream offering of Sunday worship services. Others enjoy the opportunity to view recordings at their convenience.

“We have some folks who tune in at 10 am, because that’s time for church, although we are hearing from some who like turning in on Tuesday or Wednesday, for instance,” he said. “The goal is to make it available to folks who can’t be there.”

The council members agreed the same will be done for the Thanksgiving service, therefore.

There will be some music, which all felt is an important part of any gathering. How the music will be performed remains to be seen, it was agreed. The council will continue to monitor CDC suggestions before finalizing plans for music, as well as facemask guidelines for those who attend in person on November 21.

“We have to let people make decisions on what they’re comfortable with,” Crebbin said.

Miller agreed, saying she relies on the CDC as well as “one member of my church, a local Emergency Services Management member, for guidance” on when to ask people to mask up or allow them to attend worship services without masks, social distance, etc since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NUMC has had some singing, she said, “and last week was the first time, on an honor system, to be unmasked” during in-person worship service.

As in years past, the interfaith event will include an offering for FAITH Food Pantry. How that will be collected will also be determined closer to the date of the event.

The group then discussed the format of the service, who would speak this year, and its general theme. Gratitude, sharing, and love have been incorporated into previous services. The Interfaith Council members present last week agreed that a similar theme is still important for this month.

Additional Interfaith Council members will be contacted and asked to participate, the group agreed. Discussion also included the hope to invite someone who can represent native peoples and/or the refugee population as part of the service.

Beshtawii felt it would important to remind people of the challenges faced by refugees, “and their wish, and hope, for a new home.”

Crebbin agreed on the subject, noting that everyone, “or our ancestors, once were refugees. All families have gone through this, and most were welcomed.”

Before concluding, the council also addressed how to conduct upcoming meetings. Some members have had so much difficulty with the technology that they have been unable to participate in recent meetings, it was noted.

“It would be nice to see people face-to-face,” Miller said.

No final decision was made before the conclusion of the meeting, however.

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Associate Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.