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National Day of Mourning and Prayer, Sept. 16

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), of which the WCG is a member, announced from Washington, D.C., that it urged its 51 member denominations and 43,000 churches to mobilize for a National Day of Mourning and Prayer, Sunday, Sept. 16.

"The Scriptures call us to ‘pray for those in authority,’ so we urge prayer as well for President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and our government leaders through this national tragedy," said Edward L. Foggs, NAE’s chairman of the board.

The National Association of Evangelicals joined with National Prayer Committee, the National Day of Prayer and the Mission America Coalition in sponsoring a full-page advertisement in the newspaper USA Today Friday, Sept. 14, calling for a National Day of Mourning and Prayer on Sunday, Sept. 16. This advertisement can be seen at www.nationalprayer.org

Ken and Nancy Williams

Sept. 12 through 16 pastors of our New York City congregations brought members together to pray, give testimony to their faith in Jesus, and comfort and encourage each other to seek the Lord, reported Ken Williams, district superintendent.

God graciously spared our pastors and members during the heinous terrorist attack against unsuspecting, defenseless citizens of New York City. We give thanks to our merciful God because he protected all our pastors and members. Sadly we have learned that some extended family members and friends are among the New York Trade Center missing.

Tragically some of our members witnessed desperate people leaping to their death from the Twin Towers rather than being burned alive. None of our members was injured physically but the heartbreak and resulting emotional scars remain.

New York City pastors encouraged members during services Sept. 15 and 16 to seek the Lord and his will for our lives. I attended two of our three New York City church services after the crisis.

Our Manhattan church conducted a service Sept. 15 giving members the opportunity to give testimonials to the power of God. Pastor Dan Bierer explained that God permits people to do evil. He reminded us that God is sovereign and larger than any evil committed by people. He also reminded us that God can take this awful act of terrorism and turn it into a kingdom-expanding work that he will accomplish through Christians who seek the Lord’s will and strength.

Some members had walked through the valley of death Tuesday morning and perceived God’s presence during and after the crisis. Luis and Gloria Rosales expressed their gratitude as they alternately sobbed and then told the story of how God spared the life of their 12-year-old son, Bryan.

Lionel Rambaran soberly expressed his acceptance of the news that his niece, Renee, is on the list of the missing. An elderly woman broke into sobs as she cried out to the Lord to care for the children that were being watched in the World Trade Center day-care center. Their lives were spared but their parents are among the missing. They are now orphans.

The One in Christ Community Church, our congregation in Queens, was host for a citywide gathering of members for mourning, prayer and remembrance to seek the Lord Sunday morning, Sept. 16. It was a time when members of our three congregations could gather to share their mutual woe, and faith in the Lord.

Pastor Craig Bacheller told us that in a time like this, unprecedented in our lifetime, we are reminded that we need the Lord. This theme was emphasized as members gave vivid testimonials of God’s deliverance and sustaining strength. God alone saved during a time when national security and their own strength failed them.

I was sobered and encouraged as I listened first to the near death experiences and then response of God the Holy Spirit in our members. Like other New Yorkers, our members are seeking to do what they can to help. One in Christ Community Church collected about $2,500 to aid charities. It was a day to express the disbelief, shock and depth of fear experienced as we witnessed first the attack and then the collapse of the Twin Towers.

We realized that our faith can be placed in the living God alone. I gave the following prayer during the service, which seems to reflect the hearts and minds of all who worshiped together:

"We are attacked and besieged. Fear and mourning have gripped our souls. Tears and anger flow with abandon. Life and liberty have been severely challenged.

"O God, in such a moment of shock we hardly know what to pray. And yet we know, in you alone we will find hope, courage and strength.... In your grace, bless us in this time with your holy and life-giving presence. For blessed are you, O God, and blessed is all that you do."

Fellowship of Faith, the Independence, Kansas, church, participated in a candlelight prayer service Wednesday night, Sept. 12, the day after the terrorist attack on New York and Washington, D.C.

The service was sponsored by the Independence Ministerial Association. About 500 people attended.

The service included prayers for the families who lost loved ones, President George Bush and the nation. Those who attended were led in singing "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Charles Rice of Fellowship of Faith and a past president of the Ministerial Association, challenged the crowd to consider how suddenly our lives can be taken from us, that perhaps the real tragedy was not those Christians who lost their lives in the attack, but rather those who never accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The crowd was encouraged to consider their own personal relationship with Jesus and to realize that we cannot wait until tomorrow or next week or next year to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, because tomorrow may never come. That holds true for our families, friends and neighbors. We need to be about our Father’s business and share the gospel of God’s loving grace.

The program ended with the singing of the national anthem.

Peter Whitting

The weekend of Sept. 15 and 16 was for members in Baltimore and Chewsville, Maryland, a moving and inspirational moment in our congregational life, reported Pastor Peter Whitting.

I would have to say that we simply "tarried in prayer, praise and the word" to the extent that each service was about three hours long. We all felt a great need to be together in prayer. We sang, we prayed and let the word of God minister to our needs and to the needs of the nation.

The prayer time was truly moving. Some said it was the first time they were able to grieve and cry, because for some time they felt emotionally disoriented and angry. Here was time to have our thoughts and emotions channeled by the word, and concern for others.

Billy Graham during the service conducted in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14 thanked President Bush for calling the nation to pray, and I say thank you to the President as well. Each service was closed with communion and congregational reading of a prayer given to us by the National Prayer Committee.

As I drove from the Sunday morning service in Chewsville I thanked God for the miracle he has worked in our denomination, and for the fact that he opened to all of us the Great House of God that exists across denominational lines. I also thanked him that the new covenant has taken such deep roots in the congregations that he has allowed me to minister to.

Jonathan & Bethany Stepp

In response to President Bush’s call for a national day of prayer and remembrance, members of the Nashville, Tennessee, church gathered at the home of Josh and Bonnie Welch Friday, Sept. 14, to pray for our nation and all those affected by the tragedy.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., members dropped by to pray, read scripture and discuss the events of the week. As on previous National Days of Prayer, members sat in chairs in the Welches’ front yard while they prayed.

"I especially like that part of our prayer times at the Welches," said Pastor Jonathan Stepp. "Being outside when we pray means that others in the Welches’ busy neighborhood will see their home as a place of prayer in that community."

During Nashville’s weekly worship service, the congregation took extra time during intercessory prayer to talk about their feelings and offer thanks to God for several relatives and friends who could have been hurt in the attack but were not.

Several members offered prayers praising Christ for his protection, asking for his peace. They prayed that all those who live in the spiritual darkness that leads to this kind of violence would come to a knowledge of the light and peace of Christ.

Brad Rosenquist, assistant pastor, based his sermon on the gospel reading for the weekend from the Revised Common Lectionary: Luke 15:1-10. In these two parables Jesus compares God to a shepherd who seeks out the one lost sheep and a woman who searches for one lost coin.

The congregation was deeply moved when Pastor Brad illustrated the sermon by comparing the determination of those seeking to rescue people from the destroyed buildings in New York to the determination that God shows in seeking to rescue people from the destroyed world of sin in which we live.

John Young

The Milton, Florida, fellowship had an emergency prayer service on Tuesday evening after the attack. Although it was short notice, 25 members, including several teens, attended and experienced a moving praise service followed by a spontaneous prayer session led by Pastor John Young.

Prayers were lifted up on behalf of all the families affected by this tragedy, as well as for the Arab nations and Muslims in particular. We sought God’s grace and his peace for all who are suffering and searching for answers.

Karl and Carla Reinagel

Des Moines members joined with our brothers and sisters in the Evangel Chapel Foursquare Church, where we meet for worship, for a joint prayer meeting the evening of Sept. 11, reported Nona DeVries.

Pastor Karl Reinagel and Pastor Wanda Ross of Evangel Chapel met after a combined prayer meeting for pastors in the city that afternoon to plan a service for church members and neighbors that evening. Calls went out, and more than 40 members and guests attended.

The pastors read and commented on a number of scriptures that helped us understand and focus on God’s work in the world. Pastor Wanda then reviewed a detailed outline of the areas for which we need to pray, including the victims and their families, the rescue workers, President Bush and other national leaders, the military who would be called to act and for pastors throughout the nation, especially in the New York area.

After listening to President Bush’s address to the nation at 7:30 p.m., the assembly lifted these concerns in prayer.

James & Phyllis Humphries

The Mount Sterling, Kentucky, church had a prayer service Sept. 12 for our country and for the victims of the terrorist attacks.

Members also helped with a community prayer service at noon Sept. 13. That evening a candlelight prayer service was conducted on the lawn of the courthouse in Morehead, Kentucky.

Pastor James Humphries spoke briefly and gave a prayer for the nation and for the victims and families. The event was covered by all three television stations in Lexington and aired later that evening.

Members also participated in three community prayer services on Saturday and two on Sunday.

Some headquarters employees met for prayer at 9 a.m., Friday, Sept. 14, in the third floor conference room.

Pastor Lucious Smith opened Friendship Baptist Church (where the Pasadena congregation meets) from noon to 1 p.m., Sept. 14 and welcomed WCG members.

Pasadena’s NewLife Fellowship had a prayer service Sept. 16. Merv Walton spoke on praying for repentance; Tom Hanson spoke on praying for the nation and leaders; and Pastor Bermie Dizon spoke on praying for revival in the church. The congregation broke into groups of three or four to pray after the first two messages.

Rayminda Reyes was worship leader as Hearts of Praise led the congregation in worship.

The Los Angeles and Pasadena NewLife Fellowship congregations donated $1,770 to American Red Cross disaster relief.

Hasadore Hall

The Asheville, North Carolina, church, pastored by Hasadore Hall, conducted a service devoted to mourning, prayer and reflection Sunday, Sept. 16, reported Anna Stillwell. The American flag was presented by Daniel Israel, who completed basic training for the Marine Corps, while the congregation sang "The Star Spangled Banner." One our our young members, Kelsey Stillwell, read the 23rd Psalm.

The congregation sang songs of praise and hymns that reminded us of God’s sovereignty and protection. God strengthened our faith as we read his word aloud as a church family. We were reminded that God can comfort those who mourn and that he brings beauty from ashes.

The members, wearing ribbons of our national colors, then bowed their heads as several members prayed. We heard a heartrending prayer of confession that we haven’t sought God as a nation. Intercession was made for those who died violent deaths and for thousands of families that are now without loved ones.

We then prayed for President Bush and those who lead our nation. A grateful spirit was lifted to heaven for those who sacrificed their own peace of mind to work among the dead and the wreckage and for those who will put themselves in harm’s way to protect and defend our national freedoms.

We then prayed for our enemies, asking God to turn their hearts toward Jesus so that they and their people could be blessed.

The congregation collected $400, which was donated to the American Red Cross.

The Greenville, South Carolina, church gathered Sept. 15 to honor those who affected by the tragedy. The service began with Tim Titus reading a prayer used by many churches in our nation to seek God’s presence and to lift our hearts toward him as our Savior and healer.

We were then led in national hymns that give glory to God for all our blessings, and special music from Judge Dean and Marylouise Kozma.

Next, members led prayers to confess our national sins; to remember those who died and their families; for President Bush and our national leaders; to remember those who put themselves in harm’s way in protecting and rescuing people; and a prayer for our enemies.

Members made a donation to the American Red Cross.

Eric Larison

My husband, Eric Larison, pastor of the Syracuse, New York, church, received a phone call from a WCG member Friday, Sept. 14, at 5:30 p.m., asking if he would be available that evening to come to a nursing home for terminally ill seniors. They were asking for 40 candles and a minister to speak at a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m., reported Sue Larison.

By 6:45 p.m., my husband, our four-year-old son, Stephen, and I arrived at the James Square Nursing Home in Syracuse. Already residents were gathering in the courtyard in their wheelchairs. We expected to have about 40 in attendance, but the number soon grew to 125 residents and staff. It was impossible to fit any more wheelchairs into the courtyard.

My son and I, along with Ben and Chris Trevino, also from the Syracuse church, handed out candles, while Eric and one of the residents began the service by leading the residents in singing "God Bless America."

In the next 10 minutes he gave many words of comfort to the seniors. Most of them had no family with them, little hope and much concern about the tragic events of Tuesday. Eric also preached the gospel in a powerful way. He told them about God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice for us. The service finished with a loving prayer and the singing of "God Bless America" once again.

HEADQUARTERS—Church employees pray Sept. 14. [Photo by Thomas C. Hanson]

PASADENA PRAYER SERVICE—
Clockwise from bottom: Jaime Ferrer,
Steve, Stephanie and Aaron Golden and
Willie Jacinto. [Photo by Thomas C. Hanson]

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2001