Thanksgiving Day Worship Service

In 1789, President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation to the young United States of America:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor ...

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be ...

Later, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln followed the precedent of Washington and encouraged the divided country to:

set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes ...

This time-honored tradition encourages Americans to stop and reflect on the provisions of God throughout the year and return those thanks to Him privately and publicly. Most are familiar with private times of thanksgiving around the table with family, but less common today are public times.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America's Directory of Public Worship observes that public thanksgiving services are good and right to do:

Christians should be thankful at all times, but there are occasions when special seasons of corporate thanksgiving should be observed. These may be in response to a particular blessing of God in the life of the congregation, the call of the civil authority for a day of national thanksgiving (if in keeping with Scripture), or in thanksgiving for God’s provision of material blessings.

Following from American tradition and Biblical warrant, Covenant Fellowship holds a Thanksgiving Day service to "acknowledge the providence of Almighty God," offer up "the ascriptions justly due to Him," and "fervently implore ... the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation."

We hope that you will join us at 10:00am on Thursday November 27, 2025 for a one-hour service to the LORD our God.

Citations

• Lincoln, Abraham. (1863). Transcript for President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1863. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/transcript_for_abraham_lincoln_thanksgiving_proclamation_1863.pdf

• Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. (2024). The Constitution. Crown & Covenant Publications.

• Washington, George. (1789). Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. Retrieved from https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789