FaithBridge interfaith Thanksgiving gathering in Crystal Lake

The fifth annual Community Interfaith Thanksgiving gathering will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church St., Crystal Lake. It is sponsored by FaithBridge, a consortium of local faith communities.

The evening program will feature storytelling by Jim May, Shelly Corush and Rick Johnson. Music will include Hindu drumming and song by Ravi Subramanyan, dulcimer by Peg Lehman, marimba by Sherri Dees, and the choir of the Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church. An offering will benefit the local food pantries.

FaithBridge was started in 2007 to encourage interfaith communication, understanding, cooperation, spiritual practice and action. FaithBridge also sponsors Face-to-Face; Faith-to-Faith, an interfaith certification course for lay people. and the annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Next year the breakfast will be held in January at D'Andrea's Banquets. Ronald Beauchamp, director of the Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst College and an ordained Baptist minister, will give the keynote address.

Tickets will be available at the Thanksgiving program.

FaithBridge's founding organizations included the Hindu Mandir of Lake County, First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake, Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple of Woodstock, Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, McHenry County Jewish Congregation, St. Paul United Church of Christ of Barrington, Presbyterian Church of Barrington, Center for Spiritual Evolution in Cary, Community Church of Barrington, American Muslim Community Organization and the Department of Mission and Spiritual Care of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington.