Monroeville Interfaith Ministerium seeking 'virtual choir' for annual Thanksgiving celebration

Each year the members of the Monroeville Interfaith Ministerium invite their diverse congregations to attend a service at an unfamiliar house of worship.

“Usually, we’re in person and we rotate so we can be in one another’s spaces, and we each offer something from our own tradition,” said Rabbi Barbara Symons of Temple David in Monroeville.

Since that couldn’t happen this year, the ministerium will host an “Online Thanksgiving Gathering” at 7 p.m., Nov. 23, with virtual stops at several houses of worship and a call for volunteers to submit their rendition of “America the Beautiful,” which will be combined into a single performance.

“The goal is for as many (ministerium members) as possible to be in our physical worship spaces to ‘invite people in,’ as it were,” Symons said. “That way, people can be at home and, in a sense, be in another house of worship.”

Ministerium Secretary Marianne Jew, of East Suburban Universalist Unitarian Church in Murrysville, said the annual get-together is a joyful time.

“It’s a time to be quiet and think about all the things we can be grateful for,” Jew said. “The last time we did this, it was at Temple David. We sat with a table of people we didn’t know, and we had questions on the table about each of our faith traditions that we had discussions about.”

“Usually we pick a topic that reflects something we’re thankful for, some kind of theme,” said Salah Almoukamal, public relations secretary for the Muslim Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, another ministerium member. “And every person of faith chooses a reading from their book to share.”

Symons, who has served in the past as ministerium president, will offer a prayer of Thanksgiving during her portion of the evening, “and hopefully the imam will be at the mosque, the priest will be at the Catholic church, and so on,” she said. “(Monroeville) Mayor Nick Gresock will be speaking as well.”

Houses of worship have gotten creative with technology during the coronavirus pandemic, and that has extended to sacred music as well.

“Some of us have recorded our voices together to sing whatever our liturgy is,” Symons said. “So our idea was to take a piece of American music that those voices could share in together.”

Those interested can download the sheet music and accompaniment from the ministerium website, MIMcares.org, to record and submit their own video, which will be edited together and played Nov. 23.

The event also typically includes a collection, which will be taken up online and benefit food pantries at Garden City Methodist Church, Cross Roads Presbyterian and Pitcairn nonprofit PitCare.

Jew said the event offers a chance for participants to find common ground.

“I think we need to put our focus back on the things that we share, the things that we all value,” she said. “MIM typically brings together people whose diversity is in their religious background, but the same thing applies.”

Almoukamal agreed.

“The beauty of Monroeville’s diversity really is on display at those events,” he said.

For more information, see MIMcares.org.