People of diverse faiths to gather for Thanksgiving celebration in Modesto

People again will gather across religious lines in Modesto – Protestant, Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Sikh and others – at an annual Thanksgiving celebration.

The Stanislaus County Interfaith Council presents the Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration on Nov. 24 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on El Vista Avenue. This is the second year that the organization has hosted the event, which has roots dating back nearly two decades in the community.

“Mark Haskett (a member of Congregation Beth Shalom and the SCIC) was behind (the interfaith Thanksgiving event) for years,” Rev. Erin Matteson, pastor at Modesto Church of the Brethren, said in an email interview. “After the event, there was often so much good energy about folks coming together across religious lines to make connections together that people would say, ‘We should get together more or plan other events.’ A couple of years back, we just decided that we needed to quit talking about it and do it.

“We asked representatives from several of the traditions to begin sitting around the table together, to plan the event for the next year together, and to consider forming a council of some kind. SCIC was born in May of 2013.”

Currently represented on the SCIC are leaders from the Islamic, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish faiths, along with Church of the Brethren and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At the Nov. 24 celebration, which is free and open to the public, there will be sacred readings, music and words of thanks from representatives across many faith lines. Afterward, refreshments that also represent the cultures behind the diverse faiths will be served.

“It’s just one of the few opportunities we have in this area to gather together under the same roof from so many different traditions and people and cultures that we often know little about or have experienced or only heard about in the news or in stereotypical ways,” Congregation Beth Shalom’s Haskett said.

In addition, donations will be gathered for Interfaith Ministries – a separate organization from SCIC that has been connected to the Thanksgiving celebration over the years. People can take nonperishable food, men’s and women’s job interview clothing and financial gifts to benefit IM’s emergency food pantry and clothes closet.

SCIC meets monthly – both laity and clergy members – with a “shared commitment to peace, greater understanding and bridge building among us in this community … believing we are stronger the more we understand and know and are in relationship with one another,” according to a press release from the group.

“We have a gathering time where we share what is going on in our faith communities, particularly anything others are invited to from the community,” Matteson said. “This has been helpful to know what we can invite our folks into.”

In addition to the Thanksgiving service, SCIC co-sponsored a Covered California event earlier this year to promote health care in the community, working with a local clergy group and Doctors Medical Center. SCIC hopes to hold other events in the new year, Matteson said, perhaps an interfaith picnic and a series of “Faith Forums.”

SCIC continues to look for more representation in its fold from other faiths, Matteson said. “We would love to find representatives from various faiths join us around the table who are not there. We need even more diversity. We are looking for ways to help our community come together in its diversity in ways that build relationships among us and see that we share far more in common, than have ways we are different.”

Matteson feels the interfaith efforts add “positive energy” to the community.

“People seem to really appreciate people who are different coming together for positive things,” she said, “in a world where there is just too much conflict, hatred and intolerance.”

And the Thanksgiving celebration provides a chance for members of the greater Modesto community to express gratitude in all of their diverse ways.

“Every tradition offers thanks to a supreme being outside of ourselves,” Haskett said. “This is an opportunity to see many different expressions of that.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 5:12 PM with the headline "People of diverse faiths to gather for Thanksgiving celebration in Modesto."