HAWAII

Multifaith worship marks Thanksgiving

Many Oahu church congregations relive the sharing spirit of the first Thanksgiving by gathering with people of other faiths. The services are open to the public.

» Tomorrow, 6 p.m., Calvary-by-the-Sea Lutheran Church, 5339 Kalanianaole Highway: Speakers from environmental groups as well as religious traditions will reflect on “;What is our place in the world and our right relationship with the earth?”; The congregation may participate in a sacred dance in the Sufi tradition. The Temple Emanu-El choir and an interfaith choir led by Sangeet Gellhorn will provide music.

» Tuesday, 7 p.m. Temple Emanu-El, 2550 Pali Highway: The Rev. Mike Young of First Unitarian Church will speak at the Nuuanu Valley Thanksgiving Interfaith Service. This is the 47th year of the Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Bahai and other congregations joining together. The Honpa Hongwanji Temple choir will sing. A potluck dessert reception will follow at the First Unitarian Church, 2500 Pali Highway. The offering will go to the Youth Outreach program for homeless youngsters.

» Wednesday, 7 p.m.: Kailua United Methodist Church, 1110 Kailua Road, will host the annual Windward Coalition of Churches Thanksgiving Eve service. The Rev. Tom Choi will speak. Special music will be presented by the Windward Choral Society led by Susan Duprey.

Participants are asked to bring a pie to share at a reception following the service.

» Thursday, 9 a.m.: Central Union Church, 1660 S. Beretania St., will be the scene of the traditional Thanksgiving Day Interfaith Service. The Rev. Lawrence Corbett and other Central Union ministers will be joined by the Rev. Elizabeth Beasley of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Rabbi Peter Schaktman of Temple Emanu-El and Pastor Robert Lloyd of Kailua Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Honolulu Boy Choir will provide music. The offering will be donated to River of Life Mission.

Religious symbols join City Hall event

The religious holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah will be memorialized amid the secular displays of the annual Honolulu City Lights show on the City Hall grounds.

Three faith-based groups and two other nonprofit organizations were selected to fill five spaces set aside for private displays in a tradition that dates back to the beginning of the city-sponsored holiday extravaganza.

Nine organizations applied for space, and the finalists were determined Monday in a lottery drawing at Honolulu Hale. They are:

» Chabad of Hawaii, an Orthodox Jewish organization. It erects a giant menorah at Waikiki Gateway Park each year to mark Hanukkah, which begins Dec. 22 this year.

» Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Liliha. It has sponsored booths depicting the birth of Jesus several times in recent years.

» Reunion Church, ministry of Hawaii Church of God in Prophecy, a new entrant.

» Parents, Family, Friends of Lesbians and Gays—Oahu. It has sponsored past exhibits extolling tolerance and peace.

» Hawaii Brain Aneurysm Foundation (Friends of Michele Higa), a new entrant.

The tradition began in 1992 when a church group convinced former Mayor Frank Fasi that his new Honolulu City Lights show should include the real Christmas story among the sectarian, bigger-than-life scenes of elves and toys and snowmen. A challenge over religious displays on government property was resolved when the city set up a lottery open to all nonprofit groups.

Handel and hymns hail holiday season

Many congregations offer music as a gift to the community and a spiritual refuge in the hectic holiday season.

» Tomorrow, 4 p.m.: Singers good and not so good are welcome to join in the community sing-along of Handel's “;Messiah”; at Christ Church Uniting Disciples & Presbyterians, 1300 Kailua Road. Wayne R. “;Doc”; Wilson will conduct. Participants are urged to bring their own musical scores.

» Monday, 6:30 p.m.: Korean folk songs, Hawaiian music and songs by classical composers Grieg, Malotte and Handel will be sung by the Moo Gung Hwa women's choir at Olive United Methodist Church, 108 California Ave., Wahiawa.

» Wednesday, 12:15 p.m.: The audience will have a chance to sing along with American music for Thanksgiving played by organist John Renke at the weekly lunch hour program at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Queen Emma Square.

» Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Hawaiian hymns and music by the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club and St. Mark's Singers will be featured at the Solemn Evensong at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 513 Kapahulu Ave. The Rev. Gaylord Hitchcock will lead the service of prayers and readings marking the feast day of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, who brought the Episcopal Church to Hawaii. A short concert of Hawaiian songs will accompany refreshments in the parish hall.

» Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.: The Lutheran Church of Honolulu will present the annual Advent Procession service of lessons and anthems based on the “;O Antiphons.”; Carl Crosier will direct the church choir, hand-bell chorus and congregation in singing the traditional seven names of the Messiah—Wisdom, Adonai, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Dawn, King of Nations, Emmanuel—which are familiar in the Advent hymn “;Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel.”;

» Nov. 30, 5:30 p.m.: The traditional Christian season of spiritual preparation for Christmas will be the theme of the Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Queen Emma Square.

» Dec. 1, 7 p.m.: The Honolulu Men's Chorus and the Puna Men's Chorus will perform in a concert and World AIDS Day event at St. Clement's Episcopal Church, 1515 Wilder Ave.

NATION

Boy’s death ends kin’s hospital fight

NEW YORK » A 12-year-old New York boy with brain cancer has died after his family battled a hospital to keep him on a ventilator.

The lawyer for the Orthodox Jewish family says Motl Brody's bodily functions ceased last Saturday. A machine had continued to work his lungs after he was pronounced dead Nov. 4 at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The boy had already been declared brain dead, but some adherents of Jewish religious law say death occurs only when the heart and lungs stop functioning.

The family had asked a judge to prevent further tests for brain activity. The hospital argued that its “;scarce resources”; were being used “;for the preservation of a deceased body.”;