Day Of Prayer Allowed Students To Join Nationwide Event

By Shannon Hicks

A small group of students at Newtown High School joined people of all ages in observing National Day of Prayer (NDP) earlier this month. Millions of American citizens answered the call to prayer, celebrating their freedom to gather, worship, and pray. At least 50 events were held in Connecticut alone.

Held annually on the first Thursday in May, this year’s was the 55th annual observance of NDP. Following the theme of “America, Honor God,” this year’s observances were based on 1 Samuel 2:30 NIV: “Those who honor me, I will honor.”

Governors of most states typically offer proclamations for NDP, and Governor M. Jodi Rell was no exception, offering in part a notice that said it was fitting to “give thanks for the freedom and prosperity enjoyed by the State and our Nation and to pray for continued guidance and comfort, which has graciously been bestowed upon this Nation since its inception.”

At Newtown High School, junior Jessica Orama felt it was important to offer a chance for her schoolmates to pray in an open setting.

“I know a lot of people go through school with a lot of struggles,” Jessica said recently. “I wanted to pray for students and teachers so that they could end their year in peace.”

So Jessica approached NHS Principal Arlene Gottesman to obtain permission to organize the event, and learned that she would need an adult advisor. Kathleen Taurus took on the advisory role, but said it was the students — primarily members of Grace Christian Fellowship’s youth group — who really pulled the event together. The students also received help from Suzanne Gedney, a Brookfield resident who has helped a number of local groups coordinate their own NDP observances.

“National Day of Prayer is not only about praying at the flagpole,” Adam Fredericks, the youth pastor for Grace Christian Fellowship, said this week. “It seemed there was a group of students who wanted to wanted to do more. I think many schools could use prayer and help from our Lord, so I was excited to see so many students, and even a few adults, come out for this event.”

Newtown’s NDP observation this month followed See You At The Pole, a national event held each September that did not exactly receive a strong show of support locally in 2005.

“Just the two of us showed up,” Pastor Fredericks said. “That was a little disappointing, especially when you hear about Danbury getting 50 or more people at their event.

“But even having two people was a start,” he added.

For NDP, Pastor Fredericks changed his own way of thinking when his church’s youth asked him to participate.

“NDP has been an adult event, in my mind, praying for forgiveness, for our President, for God’s protection,” he said. “We had never really thought about doing this at the high school as well. It was exciting to learn about a group of kids who want to pray for their school, to see things change — stop drug use and abuse, and improve morality.”

On May 4 at 7 am, Jessica was joined by more than a dozen NHS students at the flagpole at the high school. They were led in prayer by Pastor Fredericks. Kathleen Taurus opened the observance by reading the 2006 Prayer for the Nation, which had been written by Dr Henry Blackaby specifically for NDP, and then the NHS group continued by raising prayers of their own. Running for just over 20 minutes, there were prayers to protect soldiers, comfort for families, President Bush, police officers and their families, and the high school’s staff and students.

“The majority of the prayers were for the school, but it certainly wasn’t limited,” said Jessica.

“I was absolutely pleased with how everything came together,” said Pastor Fredericks. “To see even 15 people there was exciting.

“Raising prayers for teachers, and prayers for the country… I just don’t think you can miss with that.”

The National Day of Prayer tradition actually predates the founding of the United States of America, when the Continental Congress issued a proclamation setting aside a day of prayer in 1775.

In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.