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Holidays: celebrating Team Shaw’s diverse religions

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class BrieAnna Stillman
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  More than 100 Team Shaw members gathered at Friendship Chapel to share memories, listen to children sing holiday songs and drink hot cocoa with friends and family in celebration of the beginning of the holiday season.

Team Shaw celebrated a holiday tree lighting and interfaith ceremony at the Friendship Chapel on Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, Nov. 30.

The 20th Fighter Wing Chapel team sponsored the event to kick off the holiday season. The event included a holiday tree lighting, menorah lighting, Nativity scene display and an interfaith religious ceremony.

Chaplain (Capt.) James Finley, 20th Fighter Wing chaplain, said, “It’s important to have all the faiths of Team Shaw come together because it offers an opportunity to learn from one another, celebrate and share the traditions from which we come.”
Along with the lighting ceremonies that took place, a choir of students from Shaw Heights and High Hills Elementary Schools sang holiday songs. After the ceremonies, guests had refreshments at Friendship Chapel in the company of their friends, family and neighbors.

Although the holidays are a time to spend with family and friends, military members often have to spend the holidays away from their loved ones.

“The holiday season is probably the hardest time to be away from my family,” said Staff Sgt. David Mussio, 20th Security Forces Squadron military working dog kennel master. “I am grateful that Shaw puts on events like this for families to attend and participate in, it makes things easier on families who are missing loved ones due to deployments or other obligations.”

The Shaw Holiday Tree Lighting and Interfaith Ceremony gave family and friends of all religions and faith backgrounds the opportunity to come together and celebrate the holidays as one. Events like this remind Team Shaw members that even if they are far from home, they always have someone to lean on and somewhere to go during the holidays.