Gary Jared, senior pastor of Stuart Heights Baptist Church, is issuing a challenge to area churchgoers in advance of the National Day of Prayer: Show up.
Public observances inviting people of all faiths to join in prayer are scheduled throughout the nation on Thursday, including at the Hamilton County Courthouse. But Jared said in the 10 years he has been participating, local turnout has been modest.
AT A GLANCE
As of Friday, these are the events in the tri-state listed on the National Day of Prayer website (www.nationaldayofprayer.org). This year’s theme is “Love One Another.”TENNESSEE* Athens: 2-3:30 p.m. at Morning Pointe Assisted Living, 1025 Crestway Drive.* Chattanooga: Noon-1 p.m. at Hamilton County Courthouse, 625 Georgia Ave.* Cleveland: Noon-1 p.m. at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 799 Inman St. NE.* Hixson: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. at Hixson Presbyterian Church, 1450 Jackson Mill Drive. Pastors will facilitate prayer meditations at 6 a.m. and noon.* Jasper: Noon-12:45 p.m. CDT at Marion County Courthouse off Betsy Pack Drive.* Manchester: Noon-1 p.m. CDT at Manchester City Hall board room, 200 W. Fort St.ALABAMA* Rainsville: Noon-12:45 p.m. CDT in the parking lot at DeKalb County Coliseum, 1504 Main St. E. Bring lawn chairs. If raining, the event will move into the lobby of the coliseum.
“One of the things I’ve really thought about and been burdened about is that only 50 to 60 folks would show up,” Jared said.
He understands the hurdles. The observance starts at noon, when the majority of people already downtown are either working or running out for lunch. For others coming in, “it’s very difficult to find parking downtown, especially at that time,” he said.
Yet, “this is the one time of year it would be great to come together as the body of Christ and be able to pray for our country, pray for our community and pray for our leaders,” he said.
“Chattanooga has been repeatedly named the most Bible-minded city in the U.S.,” he said in a letter sent to pastors, “and yet we don’t turn out to pray on the one day of the year that the government has designated as a National Day of Prayer.”
The roots of the observance go back to 1775 and the Second Continental Congress. The official observance began in 1952 with a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988, the 1952 law was unanimously amended by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, affixing the date of the observance as the first Thursday of May.
Last year, Chattanooga’s National Day of Prayer was held at Coolidge Park, and Jared said there has been talk among organizers of holding the event at a church (many churches have their own observances). But he believes there is symbolic value in gathering on the courthouse lawn.
“Who knows how much longer we’ll be permitted the freedom to do this?” he said in his letter to pastors. “I dread the day our religious freedoms are taken from us and we look back with regret that we didn’t take advantage of them while we had them.”
Rosalyn Hickman, a member of Resurrected Reform Baptist Church and co-founder of marriage ministry Covenant Keypers, said area residents need to remember “what our country was founded on in the beginning” and be willing to stand up for those freedoms.
“We just don’t know from one election to the next, from one outcry to the next outcry, what might not be available next year,” she said.
“I don’t believe we’re not praying,” she said of the local populace, “but I think we could do better. It’s not just about the numbers, but it is too. If we have this many churches [in the city], where is everybody at lunch on May 2?”
Jared said he believes the event also could be strengthened by having more participation by laypeople – a politician praying for the leaders of government, a business leader praying for the city’s industry, a family advocate praying for families, a school board member praying for educational needs.
“Someone right in the middle of it knows everything that goes on,” he said. “You can know the highs and lows from the [newspaper], but you never really get the real heavy burdens that need to be prayed for and some of the thankful things we have in our community unless you’re in the thick of things.”
Adam Whitescarver, executive director of Chattanooga House of Prayer, said this year’s observance is expected to draw 2 million people to 30,000 events across the country.
“It’s one of those things that we can easily forget the importance of it because we don’t see immediate results or because people misunderstand the reason for having a National Day of Prayer,” he said. “People think it’s [only] about politics, and it’s not.”
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.