Liberty County will host two National Day of Prayer events this Thursday, May 2, with residents able to choose between gatherings on the steps of the Liberty County Courthouse in Liberty or at the Cleveland Civic Center, 210 Peach Ave. Both events start at noon and end around 1 p.m. and the public is encouraged to attend.
“This is an annual event to come together on this important day,” said City of Cleveland Chaplain Lance Blackwell, who helps organize the Cleveland event with the Cleveland Ministerial Alliance. “We will be uniting in prayer with other cities and counties, our state capitol and national leaders in Washington, D.C. It’s about God’s people coming together to humble themselves in prayer. God said he will heal the land. In order to do that, we must humble ourselves and pray. That’s what it says in II Chronicles 7:14.”
National Day of Prayer was formally established in 1952 by President Harry S. Truman. In 1983, the first National Day of Prayer observance was held at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., with Vice-President George H.W. Bush as guest speaker. In 1988, Bush’s predecessor, President Ronald Reagan signs into law that the first Thursday of every May be set aside for the annual observance of National Day of Prayer.
Both events in Liberty County on Thursday will featured guest speakers and music. Some seating is usually provided at the Liberty observance, but participants may wish to bring their own folding chairs. Seating at the Cleveland event is provided as it is inside the civic center.
For more information on the Liberty event, call Rev. Tony Hines at Hardin Baptist Church, 936-298-2821; for the Cleveland event, call the civic center at 281-592-2395.