Thanksgiving Service Liturgies and Harvest Prayers

Leader: Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. People: Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Leader: Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. People: We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Leader: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. All: For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100 (KJV)

Leader: O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: People: for his mercy endureth for ever. Leader: For the harvest that came in, and for the year that did not go how we planned: People: for his mercy endureth for ever. Leader: For this church, for the people beside you, and for the ones who are not here this year: People: for his mercy endureth for ever. All: O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Original, with Psalm 136:1, 26 (KJV)

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.

Deuteronomy 8:10-11 (KJV)

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5 (KJV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17 (KJV)

Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

Psalm 65:9, 11 (KJV)

God of every good thing, we thank you for the ordinary mercies we stopped noticing: water that runs when we turn the tap, work that pays, beds we are not afraid to sleep in. We thank you for this church, and for the people in this room who carried someone else through this year without telling anyone. We thank you for the year that did not go how we planned, and for what you have done in it anyway. And we thank you for Jesus Christ, who is the only thing we have that cannot be taken. Make us grateful in a way that shows up in our calendars and our checkbooks and not only in our prayers. Amen.

Original

Leader: For the earth that fed us, and the hands that harvested it: People: We give you thanks, O God. Leader: For homes that held, and for the ones that did not, and for the people who took us in: People: We give you thanks, O God. Leader: For friends who told us the truth, and stayed after they had told it: People: We give you thanks, O God. Leader: For work worth doing, and for rest that was not stolen: People: We give you thanks, O God. Leader: For grief that means we loved somebody: People: We give you thanks, O God. Leader: For your patience with us, which has not run out: All: We give you thanks, O God. Amen.

Original

Lord, there are tables this week with a chair nobody will sit in, and the family will notice before the food is served. There are people in this room dreading Thursday: the newly widowed, the newly divorced, the ones nobody invited, the ones who will be in a room full of relatives and still be alone. Do not let us be so loud about our gratitude that they cannot hear anything else. Be near them. And make this church the place where they can say out loud that it is hard. Amen.

Original

Father, for this food and the hands that made it, for the people at this table and the ones we are missing, for a year that gave us more than we deserved and less than we wanted, we thank you. Make us generous with what is left over. And keep us mindful of everyone who is not eating tonight. Amen.

Original

God of seed and soil, you made a world that gives back more than it is given, and every loaf on this table began as something buried. We thank you for the farmers, for the pickers, for the drivers, for everyone whose name we do not know and whose work is on our plates. What we have gathered here today we are giving away. Let it reach the households that need it before the week is out. Amen.

Original

God, we counted our blessings this week and lost count. Here is a portion of them, returned. Make this church a place where the abundance goes out the door and does not simply pile up inside it. Amen.

Original

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (KJV)

Go to your tables. May the God who set this world up to feed you keep you thankful. May Christ, who ate with the wrong people constantly, widen your guest list. And may the Spirit make your gratitude into something somebody outside your family can eat. Amen.

Original

What is a good Thanksgiving prayer for church?

One that names specifics. Thank God for three concrete things from this year in this congregation, acknowledge the people for whom the week is hard, thank him for Christ, and ask that gratitude turn into generosity. Ninety seconds to two minutes. The full text under "A Thanksgiving Prayer for a Church Service" above follows exactly that shape and can be adapted by swapping in your own three specifics.

What scripture is read at Thanksgiving?

Psalm 100 is the most common, followed by Psalm 103:1-5, Psalm 136, Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Joel 2:21-27, James 1:17, Colossians 3:15-17, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Deuteronomy 8 is the sharpest of them, because it warns that being full is precisely when people forget God.

What is a harvest festival?

A thanksgiving service held near the end of the growing season, standard in British and Commonwealth churches in late September or October. The building is decorated with produce, the congregation brings food, the liturgy gives thanks for the crop and for the people who grow it, and the food is distributed afterward to those who need it. It is the older and more concrete ancestor of an American Thanksgiving service.

How do you open a Thanksgiving service?

With a responsive call to worship from Psalm 100 or Psalm 136, so the congregation's first act is to say thank you out loud rather than to listen to someone else do it. Follow it with a hymn everyone knows by heart. Save the announcements and the community-service logistics for later in the order.

Should the church hold a service on Thanksgiving Eve?

It is the traditional slot and it works well as a joint service with other congregations in town, which spreads the work and fills a room that any one church would struggle to fill alone. Keep it to forty-five minutes. If attendance has been thin for years, folding a thanksgiving emphasis into the preceding Sunday reaches far more people.

How do you handle grief in a Thanksgiving service?

Name it out loud, once, early, and without solving it. One sentence acknowledging the empty chairs and the people dreading the week gives permission to everyone carrying something. Then continue with the service. Grief handled this way does not dampen a thanksgiving service; it makes the gratitude in it believable.

What is a short table grace for Thanksgiving?

"Father, for this food and the hands that made it, for the people at this table and the ones we are missing, we thank you. Make us generous with what is left over, and keep us mindful of everyone who is not eating tonight. Amen." Print it in the bulletin so households can use it on the day.