Group organizes day of prayer
People from about 35 churches have banded together to form the team.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- A group of city residents says a quiet but potent power in prayer is the catalyst behind its formation of the City Prayer Team of Youngstown.
The team is sponsoring morning, noon and evening prayer programs in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer on Thursday. That observance, with a nationwide affiliation, is the most high-profile event that the prayer team has planned since it formed about a year and half ago. The programs are open to all.
Linda Daniels, a team member and day of prayer organizer, credited Alice Marshall with the idea for the group. Marshall sent an e-mail to a small number of people of faith suggesting that a group get together to "pray for the city."
"It started out with about seven people from seven different churches," Daniels said. "Now there are about 35 churches involved.
"At first, we didn't know where the meetings would take us," Daniels said. But, she said, those who attended the meeting believed that prayer was a spiritual avenue of support for the city. The group sponsors prayer breakfasts and prayer walks as ways to fulfill its purpose.
And the group did have a firm belief in the power of prayer. "Prayer is our foundation," Daniels said. "We knew we could have a unified effort of prayer.
Importance of prayer
"There are studies that show the effectiveness of prayer," Daniels said. "In our personal lives, people pray and see things happen. We know there is a God who will answer our prayers. We believe in prayer as way of overturning the bad things."
Daniels said American history is tied to prayer. So praying for the city and its people seemed natural. "We were confident we could reach out," Daniels said.
In fact, people have been reaching out through prayer since the very beginning of the United States. The National Day of Prayer Web site, www.ndptf.org, notes that a founding father, Benjamin Franklin, asked that prayer precede the meeting of the assembly of the Continental Congress in 1775.
The Web site further relays that President Harry S. Truman signed a joint resolution by Congress in 1952 declaring a National Day of Prayer. In 1988, the Truman law was amended and signed by President Ronald Reagan to establish the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.
Daniels also pointed out that Ohio's motto is "With God All Things Are Possible" and that prayer is the foundation.
The City Prayer Team takes that motto to heart and is praying others will participate in the effort.
New bishop to take part
At the noon prayer in downtown Youngstown, Bishop George V. Murry of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown will participate in his first ecumenical event in the city.
"I think it is important to be involved because it is an opportunity for religious and civic leaders publicly to commit ourselves to work for the common good, which cannot be accomplished without God's help," he shared via e-mail.
Bishop Murry will give the blessing and benediction. He described them as "two prayers that will first draw us into God's presence and second thank God for his blessings."
About prayer in general, the bishop said, "Pray helps us face and resolve the problems of our times by reminding us that we can do nothing without God's help. What we ask for in prayer is the vision to see the right things to do and the courage to act."
Also speaking will be Mayor Jay Williams and Bishop Norman L. Wagner, pastor of Calvary Ministries International, who is in Italy but will return in time to participate.
The City Prayer Team joins a growing movement of prayer groups. Search the Internet for prayer team; they're established nationwide and worldwide.