Community invited to annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship service
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — Representatives from different faiths are coming together Sunday for an interfaith Thanksgiving worship service.
It’s happening inside the chapel at the Idaho Falls Community Food Basket’s distribution center at 351 West 14th Street.
The Regional Council for Christian Ministry, which owns the food basket, organized an interfaith council several years ago and is hosting the service.
Kevin Call, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who’s on the council, tells EastIdahoNews.com the purpose of the event is to bring people of all denominations under one roof to share their thoughts about Thanksgiving.
“I think it really makes a difference for the churches to rub shoulders,” Call says.
Several speakers are lined up, along with several musical numbers from local choirs and musicians, including “American Idol” runner-up Paige Anne.
One of the speakers will be Pastor Peter Simpson with the Idaho Falls Seventh-day Adventist Church. He’s planning to share a story about a family who realized how rich they were because of Jesus Christ’s blessings in their lives.
“They were the richest family but felt like they were the poorest because of something that happened. Then they realized they were not really that poor, but that they were actually rich … because of the Master in their lives,” Simpson explains.
Simpson is from South Africa and has been a pastor since 1979. Two years ago, he accepted a call to serve as a pastor in Idaho Falls.
Though he has no family ties to eastern Idaho, he enjoys living here and says “people are so friendly.”
His decision to pursue a life of ministry happened when he was 16. He’d grown up hearing mission stories at church from people who had served and was finally able to tell his own mission story.
“I had a number of people tell me, ‘Maybe you need to consider becoming a pastor,'” says Simpson. “Around the time I was 16, I had a call placed on my life that when I was done with school, I would attend … Theology School.”
He graduated in 1978 and started working as a pastor the following year. He came to the U.S. in 2003 and started pastoring in Ohio. He worked in North Dakota for a while before ending up in Idaho Falls.
“I had a call here after sending out a resume to a few different (places). North Dakota was getting a little cold,” he says, laughing.
The Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Idaho Falls has about 140 people, but about 70 attend regularly.
He’s grateful to be a part of it and invites the community to attend services. It’s held Saturday at 10 a.m. at 800 Westhill Avenue.
Two other people will be speaking at the Interfaith service. Among them is Doug Nelson, former director of the LDS Communication Council. Pastor Mike Knauff with First Evangelical Lutheran Church will speak as well.
Pastor Ann Bjorklund with New Day Lutheran Church will give the invocation at the Sunday service. Rev. Kevin Carson at the Unitarian Universalist Church will give the benediction.
RELATED | Interfaith council hosting Thanksgiving worship service for the community
The food bank’s distribution center used to be a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. It hadn’t been used in that capacity for at least a decade and the church donated it to the food basket last year. This is the second time the building has been utilized for the interfaith service.
RELATED | Local food bank takes ownership of old Latter-day Saint meetinghouse
Since it began in 2019, Call says it’s been a huge benefit to the community to host these gatherings. The community is stronger, he says, when people of all faiths can associate with one another and work together.
This event comes on the heels of a community food drive, in which volunteers from different faiths collected 81,959 pounds of food last month for those in need.
RELATED | Community rallies to support struggling families this winter
Opportunities to serve together like that “makes such a difference,” Call says.
“We’ve been able to (develop) such a good feeling with each other and we’re friends. COVID-19 took a big toll on a lot of these churches, but I think this has brought us much closer together,” Call says. “We feel very fortunate to be able to serve with these guys.”
Call and the rest of the council are inviting the community to attend Sunday’s service. He hopes participants walk away with a greater desire to fellowship those of other faiths and help those in need.
The worship service will start at 4 p.m. and last about an hour. Refreshments will be served afterwards.
