Women American Legion members outside the Cathedral steps after the Prayer Service As it has done every year, the Garden City Clergy Fellowship (GCCF) conducted the Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service at the Cathedral of Incarnation. This year the Prayer Service took place on a beautiful sunny morning on Monday, May 31 before the Memorial Day Parade began. About seventy persons were in attendance at the Cathedral, including many members of the William Bradford Turner Post 265 of the American Legion; a Boy Scout flag bearer; Adelphi University President Dr. Robert Scott, Garden City Mayor Robert Rothschild, and Deacon Jack McGowan, who is a former Garden City mayor and is currently a Roman Catholic deacon serving parishes in Elmont and Hicksville.

This year the Memorial Day address was given by Rabbi Stephen Wise Goodman. He has been the Rabbi of the Garden City Jewish Center since 1985 and is an active member of the GCCF. Rabbi Goodman offered several descriptive quotes about what is like to be on the front lines in the Afghanistan war. The quotes were from Sebastian Junger’s recent book War. As applies to all who put their lives on the line-be it in the military or as a firefighter-the most courageous act is to sign up, knowing that you may well die in the line of duty. For that reason, we all are grateful to all who have served in the military especially in times of war.

(Center) Mayor Robert Rothschild leaving the Cathedral at the end of Prayer Service. Other clergy participating in Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service were: The Very Rev. Theodore Bean, Dean of the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation; Deacon James O’Brien, Deacon at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church and Vice Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at NY Medical College; and The Rev. Debra Low-Skinner, current GCCF President and the Supply Priest at St. Mark the Evangelist Episcopal Church in North Bellmore.

(L to R) Deacon O’Brien, Rabbi Goodman, and Dr. Robert Scott await the procession The GCCF is pleased to announce that, this fall, Rabbi Dr. Linda Henry Goodman will become the 2010-11 President of the GCCF. All clergy of all faith traditions serving the Garden City community, including chaplains and congregational leaders, are members of the GCCF. They meet monthly for fellowship, to learn about local social service resources, to jointly support charitable efforts, to offer their pastoral care talents in times of need, and to conduct interfaith prayer services for the community.

(L to R) Rabbi Stephen Wise Goodman, The Very Rev. Theodore Bean, and Deacon James O’Brien at the Cathedral of the Incarnation for the Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service. (Photos by The Rev. Debra Low-Skinner)
American Legion Commandant with Dean Bean
American Legion member in Indy pace car
(L to R) Deacons Jack McGowan and James O’Brien. McGowan was a former GC mayor.