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from the bishop

Thanksgiving - A Celebration of Collaboration

November 17, 2009
 
We think of Thanksgiving, first and foremost, as a time for giving thanks to God - and as Christians that indeed should be our first impulse. But historically, Thanksgiving had a secondary significance that often is overlooked, and that is the need for community that it exemplified.
 
Oh, sure, we recognize that Thanksgiving (more than any other holiday, perhaps) is a time for reunion and celebration together as family and friends. But what we think of as the first Thanksgiving, in 1621, was more than that: It was a celebration of collaboration, the coming together of disparate peoples and cultures to achieve a common end.
 
In the case of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag natives, peace and security was the desired end. The Pilgrims sought protection for their struggling colony, while the Wampanoag sought a balance of power with the Narragansett, who dominated the region. They may even have exchanged recipes at that memorable Harvest Feast - who knows! (We do know that the Wampanoag contributed five deer to the meal of waterfowl and wild turkeys provided by the Pilgrims.)
 
Today, nearly 400 years later, we have cause to give thanks in a similar way, for other partnerships.
 
(Read complete article here.)
 
 

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(Appointments made after Annual Conference Session)
Tenold, Margo11/01/2009ATEM Santa Clara County Council of Churches to Transitional Leave Pruess-Mellow, Judith11/01/2009ATEM Senior New Ways to Transitional Leave Lundin, Steve10/15/2009Fulltime Rocklin, Cornerstone UMC to 1/2 time Rocklin, Cornerstone UMC Lee, Dong Soo10/01/2009No Appointment to San Francisco: Ohnnury Mission Andres, Edna09/21/2009Fremont St. Paul UMC to No Appointment » see all appointment changes