Singing Rooster Haitian Fair Trade Organic Coffee and Dark Chocolate will be for sale in the church office throughout the holiday season. They make great Thanksgiving host gifts, holiday gift baskets for co-workers, or stocking-stuffers - and all of it supports our missions in Haiti!

Join us Sunday morning at 9am to hear the testimonies of the recent Sankofa journey participants from DCC. The Sankofa retreat, put on semi-annually by the Evangelical Covenant Church, is an invitation to understand race as a critical component of our Christian discipleship. It is an interactive, spiritual formation, pilgrimage that equips Christians to pursue racial righteousness inside and outside the church.

Sankofa attests that we must look backwards (into our history), before we can faithfully move forward together, in the present and future. The Sankofa experience does just this, by exploring historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement, connecting the freedom struggle of the past, to our present realities. Join us Sunday to hear how God is working in our church body on the issue of race.

The First United Methodist and St Benedict Catholic Churches will be hosting this year’s Decorah Area COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER on Thursday, 28 November, starting at noon.

The main meal will be served in St Benedict’s Fellowship Hall with deliveries and carry outs prepared and sent out from the First United Methodist kitchen starting at 11:00 am. The meal will include turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, dinner roll, pie and beverage. Attendees are asked to bring community spirit, willing hands and, if possible, a covered dish, salad or dessert to share.

Local home deliveries for shut-ins may be ordered by contacting Ranell at the First United Methodist Church office from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, Monday thru Friday, at 563-382-3835 and local transportation to and from the dinner will be provided with advance registration by calling the same number.

Volunteers will be needed on Wednesday, 27 November, at 10:00 am to peel potatoes at First United Methodist Church and to debone turkeys at Noon at Luther College kitchen located in the Student Union lower level. Volunteers are also needed on Thanksgiving Day to assist with working the delivery/carry-out line; delivering meals to shut-ins; transportation of people to and from the meal; serving meals and clean-up at St. Benedict. Anyone able to assist in any of these areas is asked to also contact Ranell at 563-382-3835.

St. Benedict Catholic Church is located at 307 West Main Street in Decorah and handicap accessibility is available through the Court Street entrance and First United Methodist Church is locat-ed right next door at 302 West Broadway.

This is always a well attended and joyful community celebration of thanks for the many Blessings bestowed upon us during the past year. All are welcome, so come join us for good food and fellowship.

It's not too late to join the discussion on race! On Wednesday, November 13 at 7pm, there will be a gathering in the DCC Fellowship area to discuss the book "The Color of Compromise: The truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism" by Jemar Tisby. Even if you haven't read the book, you are still welcome to join in the discussion of this vitally important topic.

"The refusal to act in the midst of injustice is itself an act of injustice. Indifference to oppression perpetuates oppression.”- Jemar Tisby