c. 2000 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Religious leaders and grass-roots community members gathered on Capitol Hill and at churches, state capitols and other venues across the nation Thursday (May 4) to mark the National Day of Prayer by calling on God to help the country and its political officials.

The 49th annual observance at the Cannon House Office Building featured Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders taking turns at the microphone to offer prayers and exhort listeners to seek guidance from God in addressing the challenges in the nation and in their personal lives.

“We bless our food. We ask God to bless our missionaries and our pastor, but I dare say the vast majority of us do not ask God to bless us,” said Bruce Wilkinson, founder and president of the Atlanta-based Walk Thru the Bible Ministries and keynote speaker at the daylong Washington event. “You need to ask God to bless you.”

Wilkinson recalled the prayer of Jabez, the head of a family in Judah cited in the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles, and urged the audience to make it their own for 60 days from the prayer day to Independence Day.

Hundreds in the audience stood with him and prayed: “Oh, God, will you bless me indeed, enlarge my ministry, put your hand upon me and keep me from evil.” Wilkinson added the phrase “in Jesus’ name” to the prayer.

Shirley Dobson, chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, said more than 20,000 prayer services were scheduled for the day. Among the locations for observances nationwide were prisons, hospitals and rest homes, she said.

“They are just everywhere, so that’s a real encouragement,” said Dobson, wife of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, the evangelical ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Shirley Dobson said the event has been recognized with official proclamations signed by President Clinton and 49 of the nation’s 50 governors. The exception was Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, who for the second year in a row declined to do so.

“We hope next year, he’ll soften a little bit and see the need for a prayer (day) in his state,” she said.

Although many of the participants in the Washington observance were evangelical Christians, the opening prayer was given by a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Washington, and a rabbi from Chevy Chase, Md., blew on the shofar, a ram’s horn used on special occasions, and read from Scripture.

“It’s important that there be a Jewish representative in this event since we’re concerned about the well-being of the nation,” Rabbi Lyle Fishman, spiritual leader of Ohr Kodesh Congregation, a Conservative synagogue, told Religion News Service.

The Rev. Lloyd Ogilvie, Senate chaplain, led a prayer for members of Congress.

“Lord, touch the lives of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate and create in them a desire to be filled with your Spirit so that they have supernatural power to lead this land,” he said.

Some groups, such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Atheists, protested the observance as one that inappropriately mixes government and religion and focuses primarily on the Christian faith.

“We urge President Clinton, as well as the nation’s governors, mayors and other elected officials to remember that millions of Americans have no religious beliefs, don’t believe in any gods, or disagree with the Christian message behind the National Day of Prayer,” said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists in a statement.

Said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “The National Day of Prayer is a reckless mixture of church and state that should be shut down.”

Bill Bright, president of the Orlando, Fla.-based Campus Crusade for Christ, defended the Christian emphasis at many observances of the day. Although Muslims, Jews and Hindus have a right to observe the day as well, Bright said, he believes the Christian focus reflects the nation’s Christian heritage.

“It would dilute the meaning of this meeting if we just made this a religious gathering instead of a Christian gathering,” Bright told Religion News Service just before the start of the Capitol Hill event. “It’s not being selfish. It’s not being prejudiced. It’s simply being faithful to our heritage.”

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