Fresh Ideas

Creatively Thankful

By Diana Davis

Looking for creative ways for your church to celebrate Thanksgiving? Try one of these:

• 24-Hours of Thanks. Host a 24-hour prayer chain of thanksgiving to God. Church members sign up for a half-hour shift to pray in the church sanctuary or a special prayer room. Each person prays briefly with the previous pray-er, then spends time in thanksgiving prayer to God.   
• Senior Saints & Six-Year-Olds. A tech-savvy teen could work with a senior adult Bible class and the six-year-olds’ class to make a video clip to use on Sunday before Thanksgiving. Record each person, with head bowed or raised toward heaven, praying “I thank you God for ____.”  
• Turkey Smoking Party – A few men at one church smoked dozens of turkeys on Thanksgiving Eve. They invited church members and neighbors to bring their turkey to the church parking lot, where the cooks enjoyed hours of horseshoes and cornhole games while they lovingly prepared scrumptious birds. 
• Thankful Art Show.  Plan ahead to host a city-wide art exhibit at your church next Thanksgiving. Use the theme “Thankful…” and accept all mediums of art from all age groups. Begin by asking artists in your church to create a piece of art and help with planning. Anyone in the community can exhibit, and special invitations are sent to teachers and art students at nearby art studios, universities and schools. Artistically incorporate Scriptures in the display, and use easels, walls and small columns for art displays. Invite the community to view the exhibit during Thanksgiving week.     
• Sharing Thanksgiving. Assign members to deliver a homemade pie to each homebound member. Encourage members to plan family celebrations to include a single adult, university or seminary student, widow, widower, international student, immigrant and others who are far from home. (Psalm 68:6).
• Digital Thanks. Ask church members to use a digital camera or camera phone to take photos to complete this sentence: “I thank my God for…”.  Make a PowerPoint to use during Sunday worship. Viewing photos of pets, pals, pizza, and policemen will remind worshippers to thank God for them.   
• Picket Signs in Church. Elementary-age children’s Sunday School classes make picket-type signs, using large words or drawings to show their thanks to God. During worship, they march around the worship center during a song, holding their picket signs as a thanksgiving to God. 
• Blessing Baskets. Purchase baskets to provide one for each family in your church. Families put the blessing basket on their dining table and deposit notes of thanks to God each day. On Sunday before Thanksgiving, they bring their basket to the altar and offer thanks to God.  
• Wall of Thanks. One church created a huge “wall of thanks” by covering a foyer wall with paper during November.  Teens, children and adults used markers to draw and write words of thanks for God’s blessings. 

Don’t skip over Thanksgiving this year. Celebrate a focused time of giving thanks to our great God. Happy Thanksgiving!

©2009 Diana Davis. For more Thanksgiving ideas, see her book, Fresh Ideas (B&H Publishing, 2007) and blog www.keeponshining.com

This Fresh Idea was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 | Uncategorized.