Thanksgiving is about much more than pilgrims, turkeys and stuffing yourself at a holiday feast.

More to the point, it’s about feeling gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings bestowed — qualities that are the essence of a wide spectrum of human faiths.

That’s the idea behind the third annual Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Celebration, scheduled for Sunday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H., and sponsored by the Lawrence Ministerial Alliance.

“This event is a opportunity for people in Lawrence to come together and hear about thanksgiving and gratitude from a variety of faith perspectives,” said the Rev. Vicki Penner, co-chair of the alliance and pastor of Peace Mennonite Church, 1204 Oread Drive.

“For Thanksgiving, we want a connection to the holy. This will help people touch that which is holy, and that which we can be grateful for, in a unique way.”

The Rev. Lew Hinshaw, associate pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt., serves as the ministerial alliance’s other co-chair. The group is a cooperative organization including 15 to 20 Lawrence congregations.

As in past years, representatives of many faith groups in Lawrence will participate in the celebration, making contributions to the event that reflect their beliefs about gratitude.

The celebration will feature people representing Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Native American spirituality and Christianity — as well as Sufism, an ancient order that celebrates the mystical aspects of all religions.

“Each community of faith is going to present five to seven minutes of a reflection, music, chant or prayer from their tradition about gratitude or thanksgiving. That’s the basic structure,” Penner said.

“I have found that when each of these groups talks about gratitude, an incredible commonality of who we are and what we’re about and what is holy comes to the surface naturally.”

Rabbi Scott White is one religious leader who plans to participate. White, who serves the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Drive, will read a prayer.

“The themes will be pluralism, diversity, tolerance. And gratitude for living in a country where all those things are practiced and appreciated,” he said.

“These (interfaith) services are very fulfilling — different traditions expressing similar sentiments through their own individual ways.”

The Islamic community will be represented by Moussa Elbayoumy, director of the Islamic Center of Lawrence, 1917 Naismith Drive.

“There will be two of us there. One of us will recite from the Koran, and then I will do the translation (from Arabic). It’s important to interact with the community, and we are there to present our faith in the best possible light,” he said.

Charles Gruber, an initiated member of the Sufi Order of the West, will represent Sufism.

“My intention is to sing a healing prayer, get the audience involved in a chant about thankfulness, and then I’m going to read a Rumi poem,” said Gruber.

“What I know is that Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, but thankfulness is a universal human emotion. To experience it from different points of view is bound to be really positive, and I’m happy to share in something like that.”