FaithBridge’s Interfaith Thanksgiving event celebrates immigration

Local interfaith organization FaithBridge will host its annual interfaith Thanksgiving program at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at the First Congregational Church, 461 Pierson St. in Crystal Lake.

Speakers from Indigenous, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Christian traditions will address the topic and theme, “Welcoming the Stranger: We Are All Immigrants” from diverse religious and faith perspectives.

The program of speakers and music will be followed by light refreshments and time to continue informal conversation and fellowship. Additional educational information and resources will be available from the McHenry County Rapid Response Team and through the Immigration Solidarity Taskforce.

The event is free. Staple food donations and monetary funds will be collected in support of the Woodstock, Cary Grove, and Crystal Lake food pantries. This is an opportunity to meet new people, learn new things, and make a positive impact on the community.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Deacon Pam Shearman from the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, whose presentation is entitled, “Welcoming the Stranger — Living Out Our Faith in Awareness, Alignment, and Action.”

Shearman brings both personal and professional understanding of the immigrant experience to this discussion. She has lived as an immigrant abroad and her family is bicultural. Her call to diaconal ministry was with the Illinois Community for Displaced Immigrants. She served with ICDI as Director of Spiritual Care Visitation at four detention centers in Illinois and Wisconsin and supported the unaccompanied minors, court watch, and immigrant settlement programs. Currently she is active in her congregation’s resettling immigrant families and supporting local community initiatives including the McHenry County Rapid Response Team.

Presenters include Gina Roxas, executive director of Trickster Cultural Center and member of the Prairie River Band Potawatomi Nation; Abdul Waris of the American Muslim Community Organization; Bhante Rahula of the Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple; and members of FaithBridge. Music will be provided by musician and healing artist Tricia Alexander.

FaithBridge launched its first Interfaith Thanksgiving event in 2007 to celebrate gratitude from multiple faith perspectives.

This year’s theme was developed and will be moderated by FaithBridge co-founder and current board member, Rabbi Maralee Gordon.

“There are so many forces trying to make us forget how welcoming we really are as a people,” Rabbi Gordon said. “Being welcoming has been such a part of who we are as a country, and as people of faith. So many of our faiths speak to the importance of welcoming the stranger. I thought we need to take a moment to celebrate that and to be grateful for our ability to welcome.”

Created in 2007, FaithBridge encourages interfaith communication, understanding, cooperation, spiritual practice and action. Throughout the year, FaithBridge sponsors a variety of activities, including the upcoming Prayer Breakfast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. You can learn more about FaithBridge’s upcoming events and ways to get involved on the FaithBridge website at faithbridgeinterfaith.org.