Recurring Church Events and Activities
Thanksgiving Day Service and Fellowship
Thanksgiving Day is a very important holiday to many in the United States. It is a practice that has been introduced to this country by the Pilgrims, the English Puritan settlers who fled from religious persecution in England, when they arrived in the New World in the first quarter of the 1600s. The Pilgrims held thanksgiving celebrations to thank for the blessings they have received from God. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated every last Thursday of November. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law declaring the fourth Thursday in November as the permanent observation date of Thanksgiving Day.
Today, Thanksgiving Day has become a significant family gathering in this country. Family members from near and far gather together and share food, stories, and laughter.
Members of the Ecumenical Living Gospel Church always look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving Day together. Since most of our church members are first- generation immigrants, we do not have big families here. We consider each member of the church as part of our extended family. The highlights of the celebration include worship, meal, and fellowship.
Church Cleanup and Aesthetics
Our church members find joy in spending time together to clean and beautify the church. In the spirit of volunteerism, we help one another to keep the orderliness of the church. This practice is our way of doing bayanihan, a Filipino value that drives the community to working together to achieve a common goal. The word bayanihan comes from the Filipino word "bayan," which means community, town, or nation. It promotes the common good by getting things done as a community.
The essence of bayanihan is embedded in the very life of the church. The Apostle Paul describes the church as one body, which consists of many parts that have individual functions but work together for the wellbeing of the whole (I Cor. 12:12-26).
Our communal cleaning time also gives us an opportunity to connect with the community in Hasbrouck Heights. It provides us a chance to talk to some residents and introduce ourselves to them since we are new to the neighborhood. We just moved to Hasbrouck Heights in April 2019.
