Thanksgiving Service

Nearly every year since 1928, there has been a Thanksgiving Day service at Rockefeller Chapel. The event was started by the Council of Hyde Park Churches and Synagogues, which later became the Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council. We love having this event each year, and have had amazing speakers over the years! A full list of speakers (since the beginning) can be found on the bottom of this page.

YEAR	NAME	ORGANIZATION	PRESENTATION TITLE
2019	Rev. Dr. Maurice Charles	Rockefeller Chapel	Grateful Service
2018	Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Davenport	Rockefeller Chapel	Listen to Them Grow
2017	Eboo Patel	Interfaith Youth Core	Prejudice, Pluralism, and the Promise of America
2016	Dr. Robert Henderson	Baha’i Community
2015	Rabbi Frederick Reeves	KAM Isaiah Israel	Authentic Voices in Respectful Multicultural Settings
2014	Dr. JoAnne Marie Terrell	Chicago Theological Seminary	The Gift of Each Other
2013	Taigen Dan Leighton	Ancient Dragon Zen Gate	The Synergy of Thanksgiving
2012	Reverend Freddy Washington	St. Ambrose Catholic Church
2011	Reverend Shanta Premawardana	Urban Pastoral Education
2010	Reverend Celeste A. Frazier	Power of Oneness Spiritual Center	More than Meets the Eye
2009	Rabbi Batsheva Appel	KAM Isaiah Israel	Serving God with Gladness
2008	Reverend Deborah Derylak	Spiritual Care, University of Chicago Hospitals	Seeds of Hope and Change
2007	Ken Dunn	Resource Center
2006	Reverend Calvin Morris	Community Renewal Society
2005	Reverend Leroy Sanders	Kenwood United Church of Christ
2004	Eboo Patel	Interfaith Youth Core	Saving Others, Saving Ourselves
2003	Reverend Daphne Burt	Rockefeller Chapel	Love One Another
2002	Reverend Nina Grey	First Unitarian Universalist	Our World is One World
2001	Rabbi Elliot Gertel	Rodfei Zedek
2000	Swami Varadananda	Vivekananda Vedanta Society
1999	Rabbi Caspers C. Funnye, Jr.	Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken
1998	Reverend Susan Thistlewaite	President of Chicago Theological Seminary
1997	Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf	KAM Isaiah Israel
1996
1995	Father Jack Ferry	St. Thomas the Apostle School
1994	Dean Bernard O. Brown	Rockefeller Chapel	Always Having Before our Eyes, our Commission and our Community
1993	Rabbi Daniel I. Leifer	Hillel Jewish Center	Giving Thanks: Keeping Company with Jacob on the Road to Israel
1992	Reverend David Ramage	Parliament of World Religions	Looking for a Rainbow!
1991	Father John Boyle	Archdiocese of Chicago	Living Thanks
1990	Thomas Chulak	Unitarian Universalist Association	Thanks Giving
1989	Reverend Susan B.W. Johnson	Hyde Park Union Church	Yet Shall We Tread Upon High Places
1988
1987
1986	Susan Lockwood Wright	Cornell Baptist Church	Remembering Where We Came From
1985	Dean W. Clark Gilpin	University of Chicago Divinity School	Quiet Revolutions
1984	Vernon Kurtz	North Suburban Synagogue Beth El
1983	Dean Bernard O. Brown	Rockefeller Chapel	Connections
1982	C. Harvey Lord	Villa Park Christian Church	Our American Experience of Grace
1981	Joseph Stitler	University of Chicago Divinity School	Reflections on Being Thankful
1980
1979
1978
1977	Reverend Charles Shelby Rooks	President, Chicago Theological Seminary
1976	Reverend Gordon A. Humphrey	Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church
1975	Reverend Emery A. Percell	United Methodist Church
1974	Jack Mendelsohn	First Unitarian Church
1973	Rabbi Philip N. Kranz	Temple Sinai
1972
1971	Reverend James V. Lyles	United Methodist Church
1970
1969	Reverend Thomas J. Fitzgerald	St. Thomas the Apostle
1968	Reverend Edgar H.S. Chandler	Church Federation of Greater Chicago	The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land
1967	Rabbi Hayim Goren Perelmuter	KAM Isaiah Israel
1966	Reverend Jack A. Kent	First Unitarian Church
1965	Reverend Joseph A. Buckles	Hyde Park Methodist Church
1964	Rabbi Ralph Simon	Rodfei Zedek	What is an Authentic Thanksgiving?
1963	Reverend Samuel L. Gandy	Kenwood Ellis United Church of Christ	Covenant and Renewal
1962	Rabbi Samuel E. Karff	Sinai Temple	The Grounds of Gratitude
1961	Reverend Keith L. Pearson	Augustana Lutheran Church	Thanksgiving: Symptom of Symbol
1960	Rabbi Bernard Martin	Sinai Temple	The Grateful Heart
1959	Dean E. Spencer Parsons	Dean of Rockefeller Chapel	The Grace of Gratitude
1958	Reverend David Bryan		Lest We Forget
1957	Rabbi Hayim Goren Perelmuter	KAM Isaiah Israel	Thanksgiving Formula: Gratitude Plus Attitude
1956	Reverend W. Douglas Larson	Augustana Lutheran Church	In Community We Thank
1955	Reverend William D. McLean Jr.	St. Michael’s Episcopal Church	The Grace of Gratitude
1954	Rabbi Jacob Weinstein	Kehilath Anshe Maariv	Thanksgiving: For What and To Whom?
1953	Reverend E. Jerry Walker		For This, We Are Thankful
1952	Reverend Paul L. Higgins
1951	Rabbi Ralph Simon	Rodfei Zedek
1950
1949	Reverend Wallace A. Robbins		The Liberty to Be Thankful
1948	Rabbi Louis L. Mann		When Other Virtues Cease
1947	Reverend Jitsuo Morikawa		A Dangerous Trust
1946	Rabbi Jacob Weinstein	Kehilath Anshe Maariv
1945	Reverend F.R. Steiger	First Baptist Church
1944	Reverend Leslie T. Pennington	First Unitarian Church
1943	Lieutenant Julius Mark	USNR Great Lakes Naval Training Center
1942	Reverend Irvin E. Lunger	University Church Disciples of Christ
1941	Rabbi Morton M. Berman		Values that Cannot Fall
1940	Reverend J. Richard Drees	Hyde Park Methodist Church	A Thanksgiving Pastorale
1939	Reverend Thomas W. Pender	St. James Methodist Episcopal Church	Thank God and Take Courage
1938	Reverend George M. Gibson	United Church of Hyde Park	The Ancient Faith and the Modern Mood
1937	Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman		A Threefold Faith for a Confused World
1936	Reverend F.C. Benson Bells		Trust in God
1935	Reverend Thomas W. Pender	St. James Methodist Episcopal Church	Guidance of God
1934	Rabbi Gerson B. Levi		The Thanksgiving of the Spirit
1933
1932	Reverend Norriss L. Tibbits		In God We Trust
1931	Reverend Douglas Horton	United Church	The Dimensions of Thanksgiving
1930	Reverend Albert W. Palmer	President, Chicago Theological Seminary	How Far Right Were the Puritans?
1929
1928	Reverend Alfred Lee Wilson	Kenwood Church

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