Turkey. Ham. Pumkin pie. Mashed Potatoes. Whether we are hosting Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving Dinner, food is usually considered the main event. But at my Cleveland church’s first Friendsgiving, we didn’t have a turkey.
Within a couple of months of moving to Cleveland, Ohio, I found myself knee-deep in organizing a Friendsgiving for the Young Professionals (a singles’ group) at my church. People eagerly signed up to bring various food items, including the turkey. However, sickness and the little matter of the turkey dethawing process took the turkey off the table.
No worries, though. We ended up with three tables loaded with delicious food. And, in the end, Friendsgiving is about so much more than food. It is about bringing people together and expressing gratefulness to God for all the good things He does. Adding a few special elements to a Friendsgiving celebration can connect people and make the event memorable. Let’s talk about some things we can do to foster connections and an edifying environment when hosting Friendsgiving.
5 Memory-Making Ideas
1. Choose activities that encourage people to interact. There are a lot of activities and games you can find online, especially on Etsy. My favorite ice-breaker so far is Find the Guest Bingo. Each guest receives a bingo card and must find someone who fits the various descriptions. Each contestant writes people’s names in the squares, and participants cannot use one person for more than one description.
I used an editable set from Etsy that let me make some things specific to my group. For example, I included “someone who was homeschooled,” “someone who attended HCS” (our church’s Christian school), and “someone who passed out a Gospel tract this week.” The first few people who got a bingo were able to choose prizes from the prize table. This is a fun way to get guests mixing with new people and learning things that can become conversation starters during dinner.
2. Choose activities that encourage expressions of gratefulness. At one Friendsgiving, each person received a fall-themed place card. People wrote their names and something they were thankful for on the cardstock place cards and put them in a basket. At the end of the program, we drew names and read what people were thankful for. Those whose names were drawn then picked something from the prize table. This was a fun way for people to share something they were thankful for without feeling as if they were “put on the spot.”
3. Collect items for a prize table. Give-aways are always fun, especially if your Friendsgiving is a bigger event. Think of items that have significance for your friends or would be inside jokes. For example, we included a bag of marshmallows the year that our group performed a skit about the stoning of Stephen in which we used marshmallows as the stones.
These prizes do not need to be expensive. I keep an eye out year-round for discounted items that could serve as prizes. Discounted home décor, cookie mixes, and candies all make good give-away items. Our church usually throws in some gift cards as well. People can always use gift cards.
4. Incorporate pictures of friends into the decorations. While wandering through Hobby Lobby one summer, I came across mini galvanized buckets that had place card holders attached. I realized that I could print pictures of the Young Professionals and display them using these place card holders. So I scoured my phone and Instagram for pictures that I could download and print.
Once I collected several pictures from our outings and activities from the last year, I put them into the place card holders and used them as table decorations. This added a special touch that emphasized the friendships that we had and the experiences we shared.
5. Create a Friendsgiving playlist. Having music playing softly is always a nice touch at an event. However, there are not very many albums dedicated to the Thanksgiving holiday. Create a playlist with songs that have themes of gratefulness, God’s goodness, and our devotion to God. One album I selected songs from was Matt Fouch’s The Story and the Song: Hymns of Our Faith. Other songs came from The Collingsworth Family, including “Count Your Blessings,” “How Good,” “God’s Family,” and “I Could Never Praise Him Enough.” Also included was The Mylon Hayes Family’s “One More Opportunity,” “I Praise You Now,” and “What an Anchor.” And I cannot fail to mention “Uncommon Praise” by The Guardians.
Embracing the Opportunity
The Thanksgiving season is a special time to strengthen our connections with the people in our lives. Hosting Friendsgiving gives us the opportunity to celebrate God’s goodness with people beyond our flesh-and-blood family. As you plan your Friendsgiving, prayerfully select activities and decorations that foster connection and gratefulness. As a result, you can have a meaningful Friendsgiving celebration—with or without the turkey.
What are your favorite Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving traditions? Share ideas with others (and me!) in the comments.
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Don’t forget to check out Opening the Hope Chest: A Single Girl’s Guide to Homemaking for more ideas on how to practice unconventional hospitality.
Love the idea that we don’t HAVE to have a turkey. It’s the fellowship that matters most.
Yes! We love to gather around food, just as many cultures do. But at Thanksgiving, the food is a means to an end. People are what we value most.