Dear Plymouth Congregation,

The Fellowship Board and the Service and Justice Board are jointly engaged in a values-based discernment process about the name of one of our congregation’s cherished annual traditions: our fall meal. As we reflect on how best to align the event’s name with our shared values, we are considering two possibilities: Thanksgiving Dinner and Harvest Home Meal.  Because this question touches on both fellowship and justice, Council has requested that these two committees undertake this work together. We hope that bringing these perspectives into a shared process reflects the care and seriousness with which we are approaching this decision.

Several years ago, the name was changed to Harvest Home Meal after church staff learned more about the ways some Indigenous people and communities experience the Thanksgiving holiday as harmful. Some Indigenous people have expressed concern that traditional celebrations of Thanksgiving can overlook or simplify the complex history between Native peoples and European settlers, including experiences of displacement, injustice, cultural loss and devastating, widespread loss of life. 

At the same time, many members continue to value the name Thanksgiving Dinner because it evokes gratitude, fellowship, generosity, and a cherished tradition. For these members, the name reflects the spirit of gathering together as a community to share a meal and give thanks.

We recognize that this is not a simple question. It is a question about how a faith community responds when two valid moral realities are intertwined in a single symbol. For most people, these realities are not mutually exclusive; one can value the traditions of gratitude, fellowship, and community associated with Thanksgiving while also acknowledging the painful history that some Indigenous people associate with the holiday.

Our covenant calls us to worship and service, to seek God's will and walk in God's ways, to love one another, to proclaim the Gospel, and to work and pray for the progress of knowledge, the promotion of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of our shared humanity. As we engage in this discernment, we seek to understand which of these values the congregation believes should most guide our work with the following question:

What value from our covenant, or other value you believe is important, should most guide the committees' discernment?

Please share that value and one or two sentences explaining why you believe it should guide our work. To help ensure that the feedback reflects the breadth of perspectives within our congregation, we ask that each person submit only one response. 

We are offering three methods to submit your value:

• ONLINE here,

• Visiting the ministry table after worship on July 12 or August 16, or

• Attending the combined Service and Justice Committee/Fellowship Committee meeting on August 23 between services to share your sentence or one word value.

The deadline for written submissions is August 20th.

The two committees will gather and synthesize the responses received on August 23rd between services. We will use your responses to add to our own list of values and priorities for our discernment. Thank you for sharing your wisdom as we undertake this work together.  We will be in touch as the process unfolds.  

In faith,

The Service and Justice Committee
The Fellowship Committee