Is there a Thanksgiving day of prayer at most churches in the US?
Most Americans are familiar with the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving Feast of 1621, but few realize that it was not the first festival of its kind in North America. Long before Europeans set foot in the Americas, native peoples sought to insure a good harvest with dances and rituals such as the Green Corn Dance of the Cherokees. The first Thanksgiving service known to be held by Europeans in North America occurred on May 27, 1578 in Newfoundland, although earlier Church-type services were probably held by Spaniards in La Florida. However, for British New England, some historians believe that the Popham Colony in Maine conducted a Thanksgiving service in 1607 (see Sources: Greif, 208-209; Gould, and Hatch). In the same year, Jamestown colonists gave thanks for their safe arrival, and another service was held in 1610 when a supply ship arrived after a harsh winter. Berkley Hundred settlers held a Thanksgiving service in accordance with their charter which stated that the day of their arrival in V
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see For joy and health, friends and family, For daily provision, Your mercy and care These are the blessings You graciously share. So today we offer this response of praise With a promise to follow You all of our days. –Mary Fairchild A Thanksgiving Day Prayer Lord, so often times, as any other day When we sit down to our meal and pray We hurry along and make fast the blessing Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing We’re slaves to the olfactory overload We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold But Lord, I’d like to take a few minute more To really give thanks to what I’m thankful for For my family, my health, a nice soft bed My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head I’m thankful right now to be surrounded by those Whose lives touch me more than they’ll ever possibly know Thankful Lord, that You’ve blessed me beyond measure Thankful that in my heart lives life’s greatest treasure That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place And I’m ever
