Among the participants in the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, there was one voice that may not have been familiar.
The service was held on Nov. 24 in the Mountainville United Methodist Church. Imam Hamin H. Rashada provided the greeting.
Recovering from a stroke, the reverend opted not to step up to the altar, Instead, he stood in the first row and turned to face the congregation. Speaking without notes, he got right to the point — reciting a list of cities that had experienced terrorist attacks. “This is not Islam,” he told the worshippers. “Islam is a religion of peace.”
He said the religion teaches that if you hurt one person, you hurt the entire family of humanity. Later, he referred to the people who preceded him in the order of worship
Steven Soss, aided by his son Skyler, had sounded the shofar as part of the Hebraic call to worship. The final blast was so stirring that the worshippers applauded.
“That woke me up,” Rev. Rashada admitted. Then he laughed when he realized that his statement could be misinterpreted. “I wasn’t sleeping,” he explained. “It woke up my soul.”
Other parts of the service may have had a comparable impact. Several people were moved by the singing of the community choir, and by the testimony of Sarah L’Heureux, who spoke of her family’s struggle with autism.
All monetary offerings went to the Mountainville Benevolent Fund for autism. All food donations went to the St. Thomas Food Pantry.
This was Cornwall’s 48th Thanksgiving Service. Next year’s observance will be at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
PARTICIPANTS: Councilwoman Helen Bunt (represented the Town), Rev. Tricia Calahan (call to worship), Mayor Brendan Coyne (proclamation), Sally Faith Dorfman (Hebraic call to worship), Father Rees Doughty (psalm), Peter Erwin (host), Sarah L’Heureux (message), Dan Melvin (dedication of offerings), Linda Parrette (choir director), Diane Pedrosa (organist), Elizabeth Pozo (moment of silence), Marty Purdy (New Testament lesson), Imam Hamin Rashada (greeting), Steven Soss (sounding of the shofar), Skyler Soss (Hebraic call to worship), Rev. Suzanne Toro (Thanksgiving litany), Rev. Julia Winward (benediction).
