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Service gives thanks

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: November 25, 2009

TEMPLE TERRACE - Thanksgiving Day generally is thought of as a time to give thanks for family, friends and good fortune.

It is a day some believe also is meant to celebrate our country's freedom of religion, a law set forth in 1620 by Pilgrims who fled religious persecution in England and came to America.

In acknowledgement of the centuries-old Mayflower Compact, written out of respect to people of all faiths, the Temple Terrace Clergy Association will host A Community Thanksgiving worship service on Thursday.

The event, at Temple Terrace Community Church, will include prayer, music and scripture readings by pastors from denominations throughout the city.

Ted Fielland, pastor of the community church; the Rev. Sinclair Moore, pastor of Temple Terrace United Methodist Church; the Rev. Robert Cadrecha, pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church; and the Rev. Elizabeth Kuehl, the newly appointed pastor of Temple Terrace Presbyterian Church, will be among the ministers. Moore will deliver a sermon.

"We started this about five or six years ago, and with it we move from church to church," said Fielland, whose house of worship is considered to be the oldest building in the city.

"I think it's an opportunity for us to come together in thanksgiving and in celebration of all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for in Temple Terrace and the wonderful things to come in Temple Terrace," he said.

Fielland credits longtime resident Ann Simmons, 79, with recognizing a need for the clergy association, and hence the Thanksgiving service, more than a decade ago.

"I was fortunate enough to work with the (Temple Terrace) chamber of commerce, and I got to meet all the pastors and ministers in town," Simmons said. "I invited them to our home for coffee and sweet rolls, so I guess you could say it started around my dining room table. Once in a while you do something right."

The Thanksgiving service, Simmons maintains, makes perfect sense. "When you see the different denominations come together to worship, it is a very good thing."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: A Community Thanksgiving worship service

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Temple Terrace Community Church, 210 Inverness Ave.

INFORMATION: Call (813) 787-8172.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 731-8026.

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