Town prays together at National Day of Prayer event

PROSPER, TX – Members of the Prosper community, ministers from area churches, and the Prosper First Responders Chaplaincy team met Thursday, May 6 on the steps of Town Hall.  This gathering was part of the National Day of Prayer Ceremony, organized by the Public Safety Chaplains.  Approximately 115 people attended and/or participated in the event.

The event included several ministers from Prosper churches.   The speakers began each prayer, then the small groups of participants finished the prayers together.  Each small group had around 8 people gathered together, praying.  The prayer topics were varied, including local, state, and national government issues, education, community, and freedom to gather and worship.  The prayer event ended with the community singing together.

“National Day of Prayer is a national organization that different municipalities join in on the first Thursday in May,” Dr. John Herring, the main organizer, said.  “We had a local influence on our celebration.  The NDOP organization gives basic guidance on the portions of the event but nothing is required.  We took some of that general guidance from NDOP but then fashioned our own “Prosper” version of it.”

Isaac Varela is the Lead Safety Chaplain for Prosper.

“We work hard to include as many members of the local church community as we can,” Varela said.  We began the service with a pastor who prayed in Spanish and his wife translated into English for us.  We also have a minister from a predominantly Black church come and participate.  As chaplains, it is important for everyone to see their religion, spirituality and culture represented.  We believe that God loves us all and wants us all to come as we are, and we want to celebrate those differences between us.”