This year it was Newtown United Methodist Church’s turn to host the Interfaith Thanksgiving Gathering. An annual event presented by members of Newtown Interfaith Clergy Association, the November 22 service was attended by approximately 45 people who enjoyed just over an hour of prayers, music, texts, and readings from myriad faiths, and an offering that benefited one of the town’s food pantries. Many of the town’s religious leaders participated in the Sunday evening gathering, offering words of strength and support, encouragement and friendship.

Laughter broke up the solemnity of the event a number of times, adding levity to the 70-minute event.

Music, performed by Jim Allyn, Rabbi Shaul Praver, Alex Lampel, and Cole Smith, carried the service through its order. The selections were as varied as the participants, from a round from the Church of Latter-Day Saints (“For Thy Bounteous Blessing”) and a song from the Baha’i faith to “What A Wonderful World,” popularized by Louis Armstrong, and a spiritual to conclude the event.

If there was a recurring theme Sunday night, it was “The Golden Rule.” In varying ways, speakers repeatedly encouraged attendees to be kinder and gentler toward all others.

Pastor Mel Kawakami, senior pastor of Newtown United Methodist Church, asked everyone to open their hearts and their souls to the season of Thanksgiving. The blowing of the shofar by Rabbi Shaul Praver was followed by Muadh Bhaunagarwala, who offered the call to prayer in Arabic. Margo Woodall, from Baha’i Faith of Newtown, translated the young man’s prayer, which said in part “God is most great .. I testify that there is no God except God.”

Monsignor Robert Weiss, senior pastor of St Rose Roman Catholic Church, asked for a moment of silence before his prayer for the community, saying in part that Thanksgiving is “a great feast of bonds, of old traditions and new traditions.”

The Reverend Leo McIlrath then introduced the Golden Rule for the first time during the evening, and had Newtown Interfaith Clergy Association members — who were seated in the pews among the attendees — recite the Golden Rule as viewed by different religions. Christian, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Baha’i interpretations were all given.

Rev McIlrath, chaplain at The Lutheran Home in Southbury, then invited four of his fellow interfaith clergy association members — who he called friends as well a fellow clergy — to join him in the chancel for what was called A Conversation of Neighbors. Pastor Kathie Adams-Shepherd, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church; Eman Beshtawii, co-founder of Al Hedaya Islamic Center; Rabbi Shaul Praver, Jewish chaplain for the Connecticut Department of Corrections; and John Woodall, representing Baha’i Faith of Newtown, joined the Rev McIlrath. The group continued the discussion on the Golden Rule, which Rev McIlrath called “a teaching tool for children, for children of all ages.

“It teaches us to be compassionate, it teaches us to be kind, and it teaches us to be nonjudgmental,” he added. “This is the true gift of Thanksgiving: the gift that God gives us, and we must share it with one another.”

Rabbi Praver said that the Golden Rule, observed in Hebrew as “Love your neighbor as you would love yourself,” is “the pinnacle of all human nature.” The others agreed.

When it was Ms Beshtawii’s turn to speak, she began by saying that the Golden Rule in Islam is expressed as “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

It is, Ms Beshtawii said, a very difficult time for many to live in the spirit of Islam.

“It’s very hard today to live and tell people that the basis of Islam is peace,” she said. “Read our history, and study it with an open heart, not a closed mind.”

Ms Beshtawii’s words were some of the strongest Sunday evening. She verged on anger at some times, at other times she seemed near tears, leading many to seek her at the end of the gathering to share a hug or handshake.

“If you think that 1.5 billion Muslims want to kill you, then I am sorry for you,” she said during the conversation. “We do not.”

Mr Woodall picked up the conversation a few minutes later, offering a challenge for everyone in the sanctuary.

“Who can we befriend in the Muslim world, to prove that we are bigger” than ISIS and other terrorists, he challenged. “Make that vow, in the spirit of the holidays.”

Rabbi Praver agreed, reminding guests to love their neighbors.

“We are hard-wired,” he said, “to take care of our own needs. We must take care of each other, however.

“It is unnatural to be hateful,” he added. “That takes propaganda.”

The gathering also included readings by Deen Kemsley, from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Jack Tanner, pastor of Newtown Christian Church.

Mr Kemsley said that his daughter had recently finished studying in Israel, and that his “heart goes out to all Muslims.” He read a selection from The Book of Mormon, and referenced Trust in The Lord in sharing a story from his youth.

Rev Tanner said that most have Thanksgiving backwards.

“There are 364 days of grumbling, and only one day of giving thanks,” he said, before reading the 100th and 150th Psalms. “We should turn that around.”

 The Reverend Matthew Crebbin, senior pastor of Newtown Congregational Church, read from one of the Apostle Paul’s letters to the Church in Philippians.

“One of the things I find striking,” Rev Crebbin said, “is that most of Paul’s letters open with a greeting, and then he gives thanksgiving for those he is writing to.

“What a wonderful thing it would be if we were to do the same, to greet friends and neighbors and others with our thanksgiving,” Rev Crebbin added.

The Reverend Jim Solomon, pastor of New Hope Community Church, offered a beautiful Thanksgiving prayer, asking in part for guidance to “help us be thankful for what we have, rather than focus on what we don’t have. We have a beautiful community, educators and leaders, law enforcement and first responders, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, all who truly deserve to love one another.

“Thank you,” he continued. “You are the God who will one day end sorrow and sickness and sadness and suffering as we allow you to save us. Help us in all things going forward despite what comes our way.”

In the spirit of giving thanks, and sharing with others, attendees at the Interfaith Thanksgiving Gatherings have always been invited to bring a donation for FAITH (Food Assistance, Immediate Temporary Help) Food Pantry. Located in the basement of St John’s Episcopal Church, the nonecumenical pantry offers nonperishable food, as well as toiletries, cleaning items, and even pet supplies, to Newtown residents in need.

On Sunday, guests were invited to approach the chancel with their donations. Many carried bags filled with food, while others put currency into a basket that had been placed to receive those donations.

In inviting attendees to take their donations forward, Reverend Caroline Hamilton-Arnold of Newtown Congregational Church encouraged everyone to “enact with deeds. Greet one another. Let us enact our gratitude.”

Friends and those who had not yet met before the beginning of the gathering heeded her suggestion, shaking hands and hugging each other while moving among the pews.

A short time later Rev Hamilton-Arnold and Rabbi Praver delivered The Threefold Blessing, with Rabbi Praver speaking in Hebrew and Rev Hamilton-Arnold offering the English translation.

A joyous performance of the hymn “I’ve Got Peace Like A River” as the postlude led many in the sanctuary to stand and sing along without needing an invitation. As guests headed into the chilly, moonlit evening soon after, they were invited to take an apple, orange or small piece of candy from baskets that had been placed in the narthex.