Happy Thanksgiving!

The English colonists we call “Pilgrims” settled a colony at Plimoth Plantation. They were “Puritans” seeking to purify the established Church of England from Papist trappings and practices. Seeking religious freedom, some traveled to America where in Fall of 1621 they celebrated a good harvest.

That was not our first Thanksgiving.

On the banks of the James River, in Virginia, English colonists celebrated the first Thanksgiving. That was December 4, 1619, and 38 men from Berkeley Parish in England vowed:

“Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.”

Their religious motivation left indelible feelings of faith and fellowship that we remember, just as they did in December 1619, by giving thanks to our Creator,

On October 3, 1789, President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Tomorrow, November 26, 2020, we Americans will stand in that tradition and give thanks for the many blessings that God has showered on us.