AREA OFFERS PRAYERS FOR THE NATION

About 50 people gathered in front of Cape Girardeau City Hall over the noon hour Thursday to pray for the nation as part of National Day of Prayer observances.

Those in attendance prayed both individually and in groups, and concluded the 20-minute prayer session by singing "God Bless America."

As part of observances, Americans were urged to set aside five minutes at noon for prayer.

"It puts the focus on prayer for our leaders," said Jane Stodghill of Cape Girardeau, local coordinator for the National Day of Prayer.

A number of local churches opened their doors to those wanting to pray, and a community service prayer gathering was held Thursday night at the Jackson Park band shell.

"There is no question that with the civil unrest, the racial unrest, the economic unrest, we are a nation in turmoil," said Stodghill.

The prayer gathering at City Hall was sponsored by the Cape Girardeau chapter of the American Family Association, a group concerned with moral issues and family values.

"Our purpose today is to meet and pray for a moral rebirth of our land," said Joe McCullough of the American Family Association.

McCullough, pastor of the Southside Baptist Church, said the nation is confronted today with serious problems such as crime and teenage suicide.

"We used to be concerned in our public schools with kids running in the halls and chewing gum. Now we are concerned with the kids bringing guns and knives to our schools," he said.

McCullough attributes much of society's woes to an anti-Christian attitude nationally. "We have taken God and the Bible and said, `None of that applies today.'"

McCullough said religious faith is important. "This country was founded on the freedom to have religious rights, not freedom from religion," he said.

Donna Denson of Cape Girardeau came to pray for the nation. "I do think there is a need for moral rebirth," she said.

She expressed particular concern about abortion, contending that abortions are wrong.

Also on her mind were the beating of black motorist Rodney King by four white police officers in Los Angeles and last week's rioting there in the aftermath of a jury's acquittal of the officers on assault charges.

She said both the beating and the subsequent rioting were wrong.

Denson said gathering to pray can help. "If people are getting together and praying, then the Lord is listening."

Larry Moss, pastor of the Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, N.M., was across the street from City Hall getting the wheels of his motorcoach aligned when he saw the crowd gathering.

He ended up joining in the prayer session. "We need help beyond ourselves," he said. "Man's ability to govern himself is pretty low."

Moss said he doesn't view the National Day of Prayer as a sign of spiritual rebirth. "I think it's a sign of hopelessness."

People, he said, are coming together to pray out of despair over society's problems.

Bernard Gebara, pastor of the Lake Country Baptist Church and an investigator for the Missouri Division of Family Services in Cape Girardeau, attended the prayer session.

He said he and a number of employees of the state agency held a prayer session at the agency office on Frederick Street around noon, prior to the event at City Hall.

He said prayer sessions at state agencies are rare due to the issue of separation of church and state. But he said it is important that state workers be allowed "to pray for our nation, for our leaders, for our country."

Gebara said that President Bush has called on the American people to pray.

"Today we really need it more than ever, with everything that is happening to our nation," he said, pointing to the King verdict and the rioting in Los Angeles.

Gebara said prayer can help in addressing the nation's problems. "We believe that there will be a healing process that will come out of this," he said.

"People are turning to God more," he said. "People are wanting to pray and intercede on behalf of their nation and their leaders."

National days of prayer have been traditional in the United States since the first was declared by the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1952, Congress called on President Harry Truman to set aside an annual National Day of Prayer.

Nationally, Thursday's Day of Prayer was the 41st consecutive observance.

In 1988, then president Ronald Reagan signed an act declaring that the National Day of Prayer would be held annually on the first Thursday in May.