By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Thursday marks the National Day of Prayer, and the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance will once again host a local gathering at noon at the Ellis County Courthouse near the war memorial.
Ministerial Alliance President and Unite Ministry leader Brandon Nimz said the event will start with the Pledge of Allegiance at noon followed by 10 minutes of instrumental music before the prayer event begins at 12:10 p.m.
“As president of the ministerial alliance, I’m excited for an opportunity for us to get together to pray,” Nimz said. “Both for the recipients of the prayer but also for the people doing the prayer. I think it’s a powerful transformative process that God uses for all of us to grow in our own walk with him.”
The theme of this year’s nation event is “Lord, pour out your love, life and liberty,” based on Corinthians 3:17. The National Day of Prayer is held on the first Thursday of May annually and invites all people of faith to pray for the nation. It was created by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 1952 by President Harry S. Truman.
Nimz said he excited for the opportunity for the community to come together.
“This is definitely open for people of any different denominational background who would like to come together to pray for the country or community,” Nimz said.
Last year’s event was forced to go completely virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic and, because of last year’s success, they will once again offer an online broadcast through a Facebook Live with the Hays Chamber.
The event also will be recorded and replayed at HaysPost.com.
Nimz said there was a record turnout through last year's Facebook Live.
“It allowed a lot of people to participate who maybe are homebound or have other restrictions that prevent them from normally being part (of the event),” Nimz said.
Each year, there are seven areas of prayer with this year’s focus including government, churches, military, education and families. Nimz said this year they will also add Kingdom of God and community prayer requests.
They are also keeping the same format from previous years with the prayer event going to 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., which allows people to take part in the event over their lunch break.
Nimz said First Baptist Church is hosting a daylong day of prayer that is also open to anyone who is interested after the event wraps up.