Happy Thanksgivng! Celebrate the Great Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day!
It was not uncommon for Christians who came to the Americas to celebrate one or more days of thanksgiving to God throughout the year. This practice continued in many and various ways until states began to establish official government days of thanksgiving. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made proclamation that there be a National Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. In 1939, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to move the national celebration back one week to the second-to-last Thursday in November. However, his proclamation was not mandatory and the result was that twenty three states celebrated Thanksgiving on the penultimate Thursday of the month, twenty-two states celebrated Thanksgiving on the final Thursday of November, and other states, following Texas’ lead, celebrated both “Franksgiving,” as it became known, and Thanksgiving as government holidays. In 1941 Congress settled the matter by designating the Thursday in the fourth week of November as Thanksgiving Day. The Episcopal Church has officially celebrated a Day of Thanksgiving in November since at least the 1892 Prayer Book. The 1892 and 1928 Prayer Books state that “in November, the first Thursday (or, if any other day be appointed by the Civil Authority, then such day) shall be observed as a Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the Fruits of the Earth, and all other Blessings of his merciful Providence.” The current Prayer Book offers propers for Thanksgiving but designates no specific day or month for the feast to be celebrated. All hymns and service music reprinted in this leaflet are either in the public domain or reprinted with permission under OneLicense.net license A-713125.