Day of Prayer Focuses on Hurricane Victims, Need to Unify

c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ President Bush joined clergy from a range of faiths in a worship service Friday (Sept. 16) that featured prayers for victims of Hurricane Katrina and promoted national unity. Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Dallas megachurch pastor, preached a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral that tied the rebuilding of […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ President Bush joined clergy from a range of faiths in a worship service Friday (Sept. 16) that featured prayers for victims of Hurricane Katrina and promoted national unity.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Dallas megachurch pastor, preached a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral that tied the rebuilding of now-submerged bridge spans to the need for better relations among the nation’s disparate groups.


“I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, until we love enough to trade places with the poor, the disenfranchised … and yes, even minorities in this country, then healing will never be real and it will never be complete,” said Jakes, who focused on the biblical tale of the Good Samaritan.

Bush had set aside the day as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina and had called on houses of worship nationwide to mark the special day with observances. As religious leaders across the country joined in that call to prayer at the cathedral and elsewhere, the president spoke of prayer for “a holy rest for the ones who died.” Bush also offered thanks for those who have reached out to help people in need.

“Across the country, Americans saw the hungry and gave them something to eat, saw the thirsty and gave them something to drink, saw strangers and invited them in,” the president said, echoing the Gospel of Matthew.

He was joined by an imam, a rabbi, an archbishop and other clergy who have been touched by the ravages of Katrina from a distance and at close range. About 1,800 invited guests of the White House, from hurricane evacuees to members of the Bush Cabinet and the Supreme Court, filled the gothic edifice for the service that ran just over an hour.

Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans, who has had to relocate to Baton Rouge, La., read from the Gospel of Matthew, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

Imam Yahya Hendi, a chaplain at Georgetown University in Washington, prayed: “Give all of our children the strength to hold … to their faith and experience the lovingkindness of our great country.” Added Oregon-based evangelist Luis Palau in another prayer: “Oh Lord, in this time of tragedy, we peacefully rest in you.”

Both the president and the clergy sounded themes of overcoming past inequities, even as the rebuilding begins.


“The task will measure our unity as a people,” Bush said. “Americans of every race and religion were touched by this storm, yet some of the greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle: the elderly, the vulnerable and the poor. … As we rebuild homes and businesses, we will renew our promise as a land of equality and decency.”

The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the cathedral, offered similar sentiments in his invocation: “Grant that out of the muck and rubble of the storm may rise not only new buildings but a new sense of our unity as a nation, rich and poor, white and black.”

Beyond the high arches and stained glass windows of the cathedral, others across the country observed the special day in their own way.

Shirley Dobson, chairwoman of the Colorado-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, said the prayer day was fitting after the disaster that had hit the Gulf Coast region, and should be marked in churches and homes.

“The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina gives us the chance, as a nation, to admit that we can’t make it on our own _ that we’re dependent on God,” she said in a statement on Citizen Link, an e-newsletter of Focus on the Family, founded by her husband, evangelical radio personality James Dobson.

The Christian Emergency Network, a coalition of evangelical groups that seeks to help Christians care for and share the gospel with victims of national emergencies, issued statements urging people to pray and then go a step further by making a commitment to relief efforts for long-term needs after Hurricane Katrina.


The Rev. Jack Hayford, president of the Los Angeles-based International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, was among the denominational leaders who urged participation in prayer gatherings Friday.

“Let us engage in fervent prayer that will dispel despair, heartbreak and cynicism _ introducing healing and comfort, while casting down strongholds of fear, criticism and spiritual apathy,” he said in a statement issued after Bush called for the day of prayer.

But not everyone was supportive of setting aside the day for religious reasons. Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the Washington-based American Humanist Association, accused the president of having political motivations designating a day of prayer.

“Now the president is manipulating religion and disregarding the rights of those of minority faiths and philosophies in order to deflect criticism from his administration’s poor response to the Hurricane Katrina crisis,” Speckhardt said in a statement.

Speckhardt said Bush was “using religion as a diversion instead of fully admitting his mistakes and focusing on responsibility and readiness.”

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Editors: Check the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for cathedral photos of Bush, Jakes and Georgetown chaplain Imam Yahya Hendi. On the lower right of the home page, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.


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