After adjourning for the summer, Newtown Interfaith Council (NIC) members reunited on Tuesday, September 9, and set their sights on future endeavors.

The council met at Newtown Congregational Church due to the ongoing construction at their usual meeting place, Trinity Episcopal Church.

To that end, Newtown Congregational Church Lead Pastor Matt Crebbin highlighted a few upcoming events he felt they should start planning for.

The first one he mentioned was the 12/14 Service of Remembrance, an annual public gathering for the community to remember and honor those who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The NIC hosts the service every year, giving people a place to mourn through music, prayer, reflections, and candlelight.

Last year’s service was held at Trinity Episcopal Church. However, Trinity Church Director Andrea Castner Wyatt talked to Crebbin before the meeting and said the ongoing construction at the church would make it difficult to host the gathering this year.

Crebbin said he was “certainly willing” to hold the service at Newtown Congregational Church.

“We have hosted in the past. We did rotate between Trinity and Newtown Congregational Church for awhile ... but we’ll explore who else might be willing to host,” Crebbin said.

Another event he wanted to talk about sooner rather than later was the council’s annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Gathering. This gathering is traditionally small and intimate in scale, serving as a time for people of all faiths to come together.

Last year’s gathering at Sticks and Stones Farm saw people gather in a circle, share readings and reflections, and sing along to music played by singer and guitarist Dean Snellback.

However, Crebbin said they might explore doing a Thanksgiving meal this year.

“Maybe it’s not on [Thanksgiving] itself, but even if it was the Sunday before or during an evening that week, we could offer a community-wide meal,” Crebbin explained.

He said it “didn’t make didn’t make sense to not have some kind of food offering” around Thanksgiving, especially since some people might not have a family to eat with. Crebbin said they might offer a Thanksgiving prayer or blessing with the food to make it more of a communal event.

“And certainly I would offer our space [at Newtown Congregational Church],” Crebbin continued. “We have a commercial kitchen. We’re health department approved ... and then we’d have to strategize for getting a team together.”

He said they might talk to grocers such as Big Y or Caraluzzi’s to get donations of some hams or turkeys.

Reverend Stephen Volpe, pastor of Newtown United Methodist Church, asked if they could introduce some of the indigenous stories behind Thanksgiving during the event. Love Has a Home Here Founder Bill Donaldson said they could get Grandmother Nancy Andry to share stories about her indigenous heritage.

“I think it could be a good representation of being a holding place for diversity,” Crebbin added. “It’d be a way of recognizing that we don’t fall apart as communities because we integrate other parts of our histories and stories together.”

Crebbin said he believes Newtown Community Center and Newtown Senior Center do their own community meals, but felt as though NIC could particularly reach out to people who are more isolated.

Donaldson noted Newtown Community Center as a potential location to hold their Thanksgiving gathering, calling it a “neutral spot.” Crebbin said it is not a bad idea, but added he is unsure they would have enough time to prepare food in a facility used by so many people.

However, Crebbin also said they might be able to reach out to other restaurants to help contribute food for a communal Thanksgiving. Restaurants already have to adhere to health department policies, so that would be another bonus, according to Crebbin.

“We could also have diverse options for food,” Crebbin suggested. “My best friends growing up, who were Filipino, had a table full of American-styled food and another one filled with Filipino food for Thanksgiving. So that doesn’t mean we have to just have turkey or potatoes, we can have a mixture of stuff.”

Crebbin stressed these are all ideas and that nothing is inherently solidified. However, he welcomed people to contact him if they wanted a communal Thanksgiving dinner. Those interested can call Newtown Congregational Church and speak to Crebbin at 203-426-9024.

School Lunch Assistance

The next topic of discussion was whether the NIC could help Newtown Public Schools (NPS) with local students’ and families’ lunch meal debt, which totals around $20,000.

NIC members started talking about the issue before adjourning for the summer. When they last met in June, Crebbin said the school district was looking at a few methods to relieve the debt.

There was uncertainty as to whether federal funding for the school lunch program would be reduced. Crebbin said reductions mean higher thresholds and, in turn, fewer families who can quality for the program.

He and fellow NIC members considered getting donations from churches or organizations such as Newtown Lions Club or Newtown Rotary Club.

Now, several months later, Crebbin said a few members in his congregation have spoken to the school district about school lunch assistance.

He also discussed this issue further with Human Services, which has assessment tools that can identify who qualifies for subsidized lunches.

Much like in June, Crebbin said they want to help families who no longer qualify for the school lunch program or experience general financial issues.

“So what we’d love to do now is bring together representatives from different churches and groups like the Lions and Rotary to form an exploratory group,” Crebbin said.

This group would meet, talk about statistics with the town, and decide what initiatives might be effective. Crebbin encouraged his fellow NIC members to reach out to their congregations and see if anyone wants to be a part of the group.

“The idea would be that we start with this initial group and then we would go public ... We want to come up with a plan before getting other organizations and the public at large involved,” Crebbin explained.

NIC members talked about having their next regular meeting in October be a private event at Sticks and Stones Farm.

Donaldson said they would reach out to the faith community for a conversation about how artificial intelligence impacts religious practices, understanding of human life, and society as a whole. Ideally, 20-30 people would be there, according to Donaldson.

“We’ve got to start thinking about it sooner than later,” Donaldson said.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.