"Together let us take up the challenge to reawaken American's religious and moral heart, recognizing that a deep and abiding faith in God is the rock upon which this great nation was founded." - President Ronald Reagan
Many people are unaware of the fact that our nation and 9 other countries celebrate a National Day of Prayer on the same day each year. Though previous presidents had certainly declared national days of prayer prior to the resolution as it stands, Ronald Reagan declared with the 100th Congress in a Joint Resolution in 1988 to commemorate the first Thursday in May each year as the National Day of Prayer, according to a proclamation by the current president declaring it as such.
Some have tried to challenge the legality of this practice and also the constitutionality of designating a chaplain for both the House and the Senate. (For most of their history the House and Senate have each elected a chaplain.) Both have been upheld in the Supreme Court "...on the grounds of precedent and tradition." They noted that the custom "is deeply imbedded in the history and tradition of this country," and that the use of prayer "...has become part of the fabric of our society." (House and Senate Chaplains: An Overview- Ida Brudnick)
With over 42,000 prayer gatherings throughout the country, one such gathering has been planned to take place right here at Weber High. Local Cub Scouts, families, students, politicians, and leaders, and members of various faiths were invited to gather around the flagpole at 6:30 p.m. May 1st to learn about and observe our National Day of Prayer with special musical numbers and, of course, prayers. Citizens who organized the event plan on making it a tradition and hope to see it expand. They were impressed with the willing response of Cub Scouts and their parents when the request was made to have the boys come in uniform to pass out programs and serve refreshments.
Valley View Baptist Church’s Pastor Dave Duncan has been involved in planning the event. He says, “Prayer is not only a freedom, it is a right, a privilege, an opportunity, a challenge and very rewarding. We must not only work to preserve this right but all the other rights granted us by the documents which created this wonderful country.”
Other community members contributed their thoughts as well. Matthew Lund of Willard states, “Prayer is a duly protected right in the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers believed that God has given each one of us the right to freedom OF religion and freedom OF speech, not the freedom from those things.” Keldi Francom feels, “It is very important to preserve our right to pray because prayer can bring peace…even people who don’t go to church or believe in organized religion…can have comfort brought to them by prayer.”
The National Day of Prayer Task Force is the Judeo Christian expression of the National Day of Prayer. They declared their mission to communicate with all the need for personal repentance and prayer. Their team is made up of dedicated volunteers who have a heartfelt belief that prayer is the hope for our country. They seek to protect America's constitutional freedoms to gather, worship, pray and speak freely and, also, to publicize and preserve America's Christian heritage, respect all people regardless of denomination or creed, and glorify the Lord in word and deed. They remind us to pray for America, whose pledge of allegiance recounts that we are "one nation under God," and whose currency states that it is "in God We Trust."
Pastor Jeremiah Johnson of the Valley View Assembly of God:" I think we have a warped view of Freedom in our country. We're losing our right to spiritual freedom while allowing liberal freedom. I would ask us to think about the result of that choice when we evaluate the state of our culture."
"Our forbears came not for gold, but mainly in search of God and freedom to worship in their own way." -President Ronald Reagan
Picture: Pleasant View residents Brett and Shaundra Cragun accepted the invitation to sing "God Bless America" at the local prayer gathering.
Scout photo: These and other local scouts jumped at the opportunity to do their duty to God and their country by helping at the event.
