Sharon Browning, a former president of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness and a member of the local Presbyterian Church, which was destroyed in the Palisades Fire, sent the message below on behalf of the Pacific Palisades Interfaith Clergy Community.
Many Palisades residents attend the annual interfaith Thanksgiving service, held on the Monday night before Thanksgiving, at a different house of worship every year. The religious leaders split the duties of the service, with one person chosen to give a short sermon and a second to read the Presidential Proclamation of Thanksgiving. Other clergy read special passages and an Interfaith choir performs.
At one service, they spoke about how they met monthly, how they enjoyed each other’s company and how they worked together for the residents of Pacific Palisades.
This editor was overjoyed to receive the message and to know that despite the fact that many of the houses of worship had been destroyed, the clergy were still meeting and looking out for the town’s soul and the people’s spiritual needs.