Sheila Davis’ heart was focused on sacrifice at Thursday evening’s annual interdenominational Bartholomew County National Day of Prayer at The Commons in downtown Columbus.
“Lord, teach us to be more like you — to put others before ourselves, and to love, care and give unselfishly to others who need to see your reflection in us,” Davis prayed before a crowd of about 80 socially-distanced people, including the masked and unmasked.
Davis, a member of Crossroads Community Church near the Bartholomew/Jennings County line, was among a team of people offering petitions around the general theme of freedom. That focus on six particular elements of freedom was linked to the day’s national Scriptural focus from 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Pastor Adam Carrigan of Bethel Baptist Church in Garden City served as emcee, and early on spoke about the evening’s main topic.
“For the past year, most of us have certainly felt the loss of freedoms in certain areas,” Carrigan said, referring to the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That was evident a year ago, when the event became a livestreamed one because most local worship services were relegated to virtual gatherings for the sake of safety.
“But God has created us to be in community,” Carrigan said.
The local celebration of the National Day of Prayer has been held since 1992 in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings — but never amid anything quite like the current atmosphere that has limited large gatherings and church services off and on over the past year.
Some of those offering prayers Thursday reminded listeners that God created followers to be bold. Brian Kendrick of the local Transformational Living Ministries spoke of that when he prayed to God “that we may believe in such a radical way that it manifests in our actions, and in our words and it spills over to everybody that we come into contact with.”
Worship leader Dale Sechrest held to that similar focus with his opening, creed-oriented song “We Believe.” As he sang, many joined in with their eyes closed and their hands raised.
Ellie Trotter of Hope Moravian Church prayed under the theme of freedom to worship.
“Lord, we owe our whole lives to you,” Trotter said. “And not only our whole lives, but we owe every single aspect of our lives to you and your Lordship. And we are thankful to live in a place where we can do that freely and openly, without persecution.”
Gladys George, who said she normally tried to attend the gathering every year, mentioned that she “was kind of hoping there would be more people.”
Yet, organizers said they were fairly pleased with the turnout, especially since much of the event’s yearly attendance has been older people. They also mentioned that they were aware that many churches are still functioning with in-person services not yet as full as they were before the pandemic.
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For more information on the National Day of Prayer: nationaldayofprayer.org.
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For more photos of the National Day of Prayer service, visit therepublic.com.
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