Multiple multi-church celebrations to highlight National Day of Prayer

The extraordinary cross-denominational network generated by the 2003 Billy Graham Mission to San Diego is creating a new model for the local 2004 National Day of Prayer on May 6. More pastors are being invited to join in the accelerating plans.

Pastors who came together across dozens of denominations in 2003 for the Billy Graham Mission regional pastors’ prayer gatherings are working together again for the 2004 San Diego National Day of Prayer. Pastors in 12 county regions are currently planning to produce a joint NDP celebration together in their area. “The detailed planning is rapidly taking shape as more and more pastors step forward,” said Jane Crane, co-chair of the NDP San Diego County effort, “but there is still room for more!”

“Interested area pastors are invited to call or email the NDP office to connect with the pastors’ planning meetings for each region,” Crane said. “Our National Day of Prayer events in the past have selflessly put the focus on prayer rather than who is leading the event. We see the NDP Regional Pastors’ Planning Groups doing this once again.”

Produced from a Christian perspective, events are well underway in a planning sense for East County, Southeastern San Diego, South Bay Inland, South Bay Coastal, North County Inland, North County Coastal, Central Coastal, Clairemont, Central San Diego, North Park/Hillcrest, Tierrasanta, and the mountain area.

Most of the facilitators for the 2004 regional NDP events are pastors who served on the leadership corps of the Billy Graham pastoral prayer teams.

“I’m so encouraged to see the pastors working together for the National Day of Prayer in the regions where we established pastors’ prayer for the Billy Graham Mission,” said Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church. “The National Day of Prayer is a great neutral vehicle to gather us to work together once again for the Lord’s purposes in San Diego County. “ Garlow served as the chair of the pastors’ prayer team and also serves on the Advisory Board for the National Day of Prayer locally.

Pastor Mark Slomka of Mt. Soledad Presbyterian Church had similar coments: “The pastors in the Central Coastal area who began praying together for the Billy Graham Mission are still meeting weekly to pray. When I presented the idea to them of doing a National Day of Prayer event together with our congregations, they were for it unanimously.”

Pastor George Runyan of City Church Ministries was one of the key leaders for pastoral prayer for the Billy Graham Mission and is now the Pastoral Liaison for the NDP in San Diego County. “Eight of the 12 pastors who have consented to be regional facilitators for these National Day of Prayer events,” he noted, “were part of the leadership corps for pastoral prayer for the Billy Graham Mission. The other four also are wonderful pastors who have a heart for prayer and only want the Lord, not people, to be featured at these NDP events.”

The two-hour events will be enhanced by the brief participation of multiple pastors. The focus of the gatherings will be prayer, with scripture reading and worship. A web listing of these May 6 gatherings, with the times and directions to each, will be quickly posted as they are finalized at www.ndpsandiego.org.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual event set for the first Thursday in May as enacted into law by Congress in 1952, and any faith is welcome to organize an event for it. However, “National Day of Prayer Task Force-San Diego County” exists to facilitate the Christian expression locally. It is affiliated with the National Day of Prayer Task Force nationally that has an esteemed leadership team (see www.nationaldayofprayer.org).

Last year over 40,000 NDP events took place across the United States. The national Task Force, chaired by Shirley Dobson, sets a theme for the NDP, trains event organizers, and produces materials that can be used by NDP Task Force event organizers across the nation. The task force also enlists a respected national figure to write a prayer that is prayed at thousands of events across the nation on the NDP. This year’s prayer has been written by the new U.S. Senate Chaplain, Dr. Barry Black, and is available through the national NDP website: www.nationaldayofprayer.org. Last year’s prayer was written by Dr. Luis Palau, and the one four years ago by Billy Graham.

The 2004 National Day of Prayer Task Force-San Diego County is co-chaired for the fourth year by Jane and Christopher Crane. Jane is a veteran organizer of Christian events in the county, including serving as the Chair for the March for Jesus in 1994 with 25,000 participants on Harbor Drive, and most recently, as an officer on the executive board for the Billy Graham Mission. Chris has organized numerous outreaches to the business community. The Crane’s were invited several years ago to serve as the coordinators for the National Day of Prayer Task Force in San Diego County. They have enlisted a local advisory board of highly respected pastors and civic leaders from across the county, which can be viewed at www.ndpsandiego.org.

Last year in San Diego County, 144 churches responded to the task force’s call to open their doors for at least an hour of prayer on this national prayer day. “Having this many churches participate was a dramatic increase from prior years when only a dozen or so churches opened on the NDP,” Crane said. “We look forward to 2004 being another exciting year for prayer in our county, especially with so many churches working together for regional events.”

The 2002 National Day of Prayer Task Force event on Harbor Drive made national news for its size and energy. Local organizers obtained permission to cordon off Harbor Drive in front of the County Administration Building on the Saturday morning before the NDP for this kickoff prayer gathering, and thousands participated.

In 2001, NDP Task Force organizers produced their first countywide prayer gathering at Golden Hall in downtown San Diego. Both the Harbor Drive and Golden Hall events were free and focused on prayer rather than people. They included participative prayer by the audience in small prayer circles after the Concert of Prayer method, as well as a variety of worship in between prayer times.

In addition to the multi-church regional events this year, some individual churches will also open their doors for prayer, and can register their event by mail/fax, or on the website, www.ndpsandiego.org. Churches with free events who register may be listed on the website to help promote their event.

For more information, contact the National Day of Prayer-San Diego County Task Force at info@ndpsandiego.org or (858) 756-7282.