September is a month for thanksgiving in the Church calendar. At the CSI St. Thomas
English Church in San Thome, the community got together to celebrate the annual
Thanksgiving Festival (ATF) with a special Holy Communion service on Sunday,
September 7 morning.
Presbyter Rev. Anitha Christian was the celebrant.
The 182-year-old Church was beautifully decorated with sunflowers, fruits and vegetables.
After the service, the eagerly awaited sale was inaugurated by a senior member of the
congregation, Sylvia Ponnaiya. The sprawling campus was filled with shamianas that
held a wide variety of stalls.
Breakfast options ranged from Teriyaki Chicken Burgers by the Sathyanesans to pork and beef buns from Porca Vaca to traditional dosai with mutton kurma by the church choir members, not to forget hot dogs and Korean cheese buns too!
There was also a wide variety of mojitos and freshly squeezed juices and milkshakes by Madras Munch Box.
Homemade eats and treats were plenty; the Sudarsons had specially sourced cakes and sweets
all the way from Sawyerpuram near Thoothukudi! Children from the CSI School for the Deaf
and Church School presented some entertainment, which was followed by a fancy-dress
competition.
‘Thanksgiving’ being the theme for the day, paper leaves were distributed and everyone was
encouraged to write down what they were grateful for and hang it on the ‘Blessing Tree’ at
the open air altar. This also served as the popular ‘photo booth’ as almost everyone braved
the sun to click pictures here.
Designer saris, shirts and watches were prizes for the raffle. Tambola, a Bible Quiz and Treasure Hunt were conducted.
The tug of war was the last event for the day, which drew to a close with the distribution of
pre-booked biryani packets.
The convenors of this event, Sheeba Roshan, Gerald Joshua Divyaprabhu, John Prasanth and Allwin Chellaiah Godwin excelled in planning and organising the sale, making it a Sunday
well spent.
- Reported by Fabiola Jacob
- WATCH VIDEO of the celebration; https://www.instagram.com/p/DOYZStbgWlv/
