Coral Springs/Parkland Pre-Thanksgiving Interfaith Unity Service in 2018; photo courtesy of Temple Beth Orr.
By: Jen Russon
A holiday tradition among different houses of worship in South Florida is returning this November for another Pre-Thanksgiving Unity Service.
This year’s interfaith service will take place at Congregation Kol Tikvah in Parkland and include special addresses by mayors and commissioners from there, as well as Coral Springs.
Joining together to hear proclamations on gratitude and sing stirring patriotic songs, guests can also look forward to hearing the St. Andrew Catholic Church children’s choir perform.
Refreshments, including a dessert buffet, are served at the end of the service.
Rabbi Bradd Boxman, spiritual leader of Kol Tikvah, said turnout this year is expected to be double the 100 people who showed up, in spite of COVID-19 protocols last November.
While the 2021 unity service will once again be live-streamed and presented virtually, masks are required for in-person attendees.
Organized by the Clergy Coalition of Coral Springs and Parkland, Boxman and Pastor Randal Cutter have expressed three reasons the pre-Thanksgiving celebration is so popular.
One is to give thanks and show gratitude for the blessings in our lives; the second is showing how different faiths can come together and unite as one, and the third is celebrating and sharing in our common love of the country.
Cutler, leader of the New Dawn Community Church in Coral Springs, said when it comes to Thanksgiving, we’re all Americans, and the event strives to remember that by concluding the service singing “God Bless America” as one.
A cash offering or donation of canned goods is suggested to attend the event, which will take place on Tuesday, November 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Temple Beth Orr Food Closet.
Kol Tikvah is located at 6750 N University Drive.
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