WEEHAWKEN AND BEYOND — Local pastors, politicians, and community and congregation members gathered in front of Weehawken’s 9/11 memorial early Thursday morning to honor the 61st National Day of Prayer. Event organizer Brian Hernandez from the West New York Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ brought several community church leaders together to pray for government, family, military, media, business, education, church, and the corporate nation, in accordance with the tradition.
President Truman signed a joint resolution with Congress in 1952 which declared an annual National Day of Prayer. President Ronald Reagan amended the law in 1988 which designated the first Thursday of May of each year for prayer.
“Prayer changes things, and our nation and community are in desperate need of change,” Jersey City’s Tapestry Church Pastor Anthony Langston said before the three hour vigil began. “Our young people need direction, we’re in a state of financial ruin, our politics make no sense; it’s a cacophony of competition.”
“Our nation is not unified,” Pastor Owen Buckley of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ said. “We all have our political and religious differences, but we all need each other.”
Prayer, attendants concluded, is one way to bring the community together to affect such necessary change.
For more details, stay tuned to the Hudson Reporter. — Gennarose Pope
Community honors 61st annual National Day of Prayer at Weehawken 9/11 Memorial
