Interfaith Thanksgiving Service set for Nov. 24 at cathedral

Geshe Lotin, left, and Ven. Dhamcoe Chopel of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington chant the dedication prayer from Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way during the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Nov. 25, 2008, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. (File photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Sean Gallagher

Representatives from six world religious traditions who live in central Indiana will gather with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein at 7 p.m. on Nov. 24 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, 1347 N. Meridian St., in Indianapolis for the 10th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.

Leaders in the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist traditions will participate in the service.

This year’s prayer service will feature a reflection by Rev. Dr. Robert Welsh, the president of the Council on Christian Unity of the Indianapolis-based Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

“I’m very honored to speak at it,” Welsh said. “Interfaith relations and engagement is something that we Disciples have become increasingly interested in and feel is appropriate for the Christian community to be exploring as we think about how we live as part of God’s wider family, all of God’s children.”

As his faith community’s top ecumenical officer, Welsh has participated in many high level ecumenical events at the Vatican, including Pope John Paul II’s funeral, which he described as “a highlight of my life and faith.”

“[But] at the end of the day, to do this in local communities that touches lives of those people who live in our communities is as exciting to me,” Welsh said.

Although not Catholic, Welsh appreciates the fact that this longstanding annual service occurs in the cathedral.

“The Catholic cathedral, for this community, whatever Christian background you have, represents, as I think the Vatican does, the heart of the Christian community,” he said. “I don’t think that any one of our even big congregations has the place in the mind of society that the Roman Catholic cathedral does. And so it’s the appropriate place for us to gather.”

Welsh also noted the importance of the service as a time for people of various faiths to come together to help people in need.

“That’s a concrete expression of why we are coming together,” he said. “It makes concrete that our coming together relates to the life in the world, and just to our own lives and our own fellowship.”

A collection of canned goods and monetary donations taken up during the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be donated to the Interfaith Hunger Alliance and Gleaner’s Food Bank of Indiana.

Prelude music starting at 6:30 p.m. will feature the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and the cathedral’s choir, Laudis Cantores.

The Interfaith Hunger Alliance has also helped to organize other interfaith prayer services in Indianapolis close to Thanksgiving this year.

• On Nov. 23, services will take place at the Islamic Society of North America, 6555 S. 750 East, in Plainfield and at the Friedens United Church of Christ, 8300 S. Meridian St., in Indianapolis.
• In addition to the service at the cathedral on Nov. 24, there will also be a service at the Cumberland First Baptist Church, 116 S. Muessing St., in Indianapolis.
• On Nov. 25, a service will occur at the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, 8600 N. Meridian St., in Indianapolis.

Each service will begin at 7 p.m.

(For more information on the 10th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, call 317-634-4519.) †