Spiritual Practice of the Week: Thanksgiving Feast

Start a tradition of sharing Thanksgiving with your youth group. Thanksgiving is the time of harvest and feast, the time for gratitude for the good great gifts of the earth. It’s a time to be with people you care about and are thankful for. Thanksgiving is also a time to see firsthand the gifts of the earth through the harvest.

Plan ahead for an evening feast. Organize youth into small groups of two or three to plan, shop, and prepare one course of the feast (appetizer, salad, entrée, dessert, beverages). Spend the day before the feast gathering food items, perhaps going to a farm and or farmers market. Have youth do their own purchasing. Encourage them to choose local food from local businesses. Spend the following afternoon at the church or at a home working on the various courses. Set a time for the meal to begin. Encourage people to dress up - create a sense of occasion. As the leader, focus on setting up a space that is warm and inviting, like a family thanksgiving table. Add special touches so that the space is welcoming and festive. Have candles on the table.

On the evening of the meal, have all the food set out and ready to serve. Ask everyone to sit around the table. Share in this simple prayer/grace to begin. Invite people to hold hands and look around the circle at the people and at the table. Light the candles on the table.

Gathering God, you have gathered us here in this circle of care and friendship. We give you great thanks for the people around this circle, for the food in a world where many go hungry, for the rich plenty that the earth provides. We give you great thanks that today our needs for community, food, water, and compassion are met around this table of thanksgiving. We give thanks for the plants and the animals who have given so that we may be fed. We give thanks for the many people who were involved in bringing us this feast;  those who planted, nurtured, transported, prepared, organized, and cooked this meal. We know that we are in the midst of many blessings. Thank you God. Amen.

Have youth serve themselves one course at a time. Enjoy the meal together. During the meal, you may wish to pose a question in order to generate conversation, such as:

• Tell us about the best meal you ever ate.
• Tell us about a time when you were welcomed around a table for a meal.
• Share a family Thanksgiving tradition.
• Talk about where this food came from, or the challenges and joys of working together to provide this meal for one another.

When all are finished, share in a blessing on the meal and on one another. Have people offer aloud words that reflect the gratitude in their hearts.

Blessing

To the God who blesses us we give thanks. Thank you for _______ (invite sharing of words).

To the God who does all these things, who brings us around this table of friendship, who blesses us in many ways, we give thanks. Amen

© This prayer practice and all of those on the Sunday Morning Blog Post can be found in:  "Go Deep: Spiritual Practices for Youth Ministry" Wood Lake Publishing
Doris is the Youth Director for the United Church of Canada in BC and the Director of World Pilgrim Awareness Travel.