The service will include new poetry and a new choral anthem written by church members for the occasion and will end with a memorial time in the church courtyard, including the release of peace doves.
The theme for the service will be “Coming Home To Our Better Selves.” There will also be a salad luncheon after the service during which people will engage in guided conversations about the significance of the 9/11 events.
At 4pm, the South Coast Interfaith Council will hold an Interfaith Service of Unity, Remembrance and Peace under the peace cranes.
For the last three years, members of this liberal Christian church have folded and hung hundreds of paper origami cranes in the month of August as a way of remembering the tragedies of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This year the cranes have remained in place as a reminder of the importance of peace in relation to the events of 9/11.
The First Congregational Church is located at the corner of Third Street and Cedar Avenue in downtown Long Beach. ß
