By Lyn MacLean 

Thanksgiving is an annual celebration of a harvest and its bounty. It is a time of giving thanks and expressing gratitude with family and friends. It is also an opportune time for the faith communities to come together meaningfully to unite as one with the shared belief of serving thy neighbor. Franklin is fortunate to have formed the Franklin Interfaith Council to do just that.   

Using Thanksgiving as an allied opportunity, the Franklin Interfaith Council welcomes all faith communities to an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. This year the service will be held on Sunday, November 24th at 7 p.m. at the First Universal Society of Franklin located at 262 Chestnut Street in Franklin.  Any donations to this service are applied directly to a fuel assistance fund granted to local community members in need. 

The one-hour service will have each faith represented with sermons, choir (more below on this subject), music, readings, and poems cited from each faith community. The focus is relative to what the Thanksgiving celebration represents to each house of worship. 

“Everyone is welcome to attend, refreshments will be provided allowing all to collaborate as a wonderful unifier community event and we would love to increase the visibility of it,” claimed Mary Diehl, President of the Franklin Interfaith Council and Interfaith Choir Director. 

The service format represents eight local Franklin faith communities.  Current members of the Franklin Counsel are:  

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

• Franklin Federated Church

• Franklin United Methodist Church

• First Universalist Society of Franklin

• New England Chapel   

• St. John’s Episcopal Church  

• St. Mary’s Catholic Church 

• Temple Etz Chaim

The Interfaith Council which originated in 1991, established the objective to “Sensitize the community to issues of deprivation and social justice, promote tolerance and understanding through worship and unified events” cited Mary. 

The Council meets monthly to invite community members to share ways the council can assist and support the community. School superintendents, town administrators, and police are a few examples of who they have met with. 

If your heart wants to help, you can make a tax-deductible donation to three different funds, a General Fund, a Fuel Assistance Fund, and a Local Humanitarian Aid Fund. Visit www.franklininterfaith.org to donate. 

Additional opportunities to participate in the Council could be joining the Interfaith Choir.  This choir, which originated in 2009 currently participates in two events. They perform at the Thanksgiving Service and the biennial Spring concert. The next one will take place Spring of 2025 called “Voices of Faith.” The Spring concert is assigned a united theme representing all faith traditions. Songs are specifically selected to represent the different beliefs allowing the community to share different viewpoints supporting the chosen common theme. You may listen to singing accompanied by a piano, guitarist, or string quartet. Funds raised during this concert are shared in the community for refugee assistance, snap benefits at the Franklin Farmers Market, and other needs. 

All are welcome to join the choir!

Contact Mary Diehl - the Choir Director at [email protected] .