ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996                    TAG: 9605030056
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JENNIFER MILLER STAFF WRITER


ROANOKE'S FAITHFUL PRAY FOR AMERICA

AREA WORSHIPERS joined others across the country in observing a day on which people of all faiths are encouraged to unite in prayer for the nation.

In churches and public squares throughout the Roanoke Valley, hundreds of people gathered Thursday to pray for the country as part of the National Day of Prayer.

"I feel like the nation needs all of the prayer it can get," said Alfred Twine, one of about 45 people who came together for a midday prayer service at Lee Plaza in downtown Roanoke.

Although most of the service was spent in silent prayer, the Rev. Jan Fuller Carruthers, the chaplain at Hollins College, gave a brief invocation and asked the group to think of the nation, its leaders and communities, and "to try to understand those that are unlike us."

"I think that [the National Day of Prayer] reminds us to think about our needs in a corporate way ... to think of our leaders as human beings, and to think of our country, which is in need of leadership," Fuller Carruthers said.

Worshippers in Roanoke joined Americans across the country in observing the day of prayer in which people of all faiths and backgrounds are encouraged to unite in prayer for the country and its leaders.

According to the National Day of Prayer Task Force, such events date back to 1775 and the First Continental Congress, at which the Founding Fathers said time should be set aside for public prayer. In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed April 30 of that year as a day of "National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer."

The tradition was revived in 1952, when Congress unanimously passed a joint resolution, signed by President Truman, that established the National Day of Prayer. The law set aside "a suitable day each year other than a Sunday." In 1988, Congress amended the resolution, recognizing the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.

Other local observances included the first National Day of Prayer Men's Rally at Waverly Place Baptist Church.

The Rev. Darryl Crim from North Roanoke Baptist Church attended the men's rally. He said the only solution to the nation's problems is spiritual renewal and a return to God.

"We see violence, abuse, and the deterioration of morality in our country," Crim said. "On this day, [Christians] are saying, 'Let's come together and have a special prayer for our country.'''


LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. David and Jacquie Leaman of

Roanoke hold hands in prayer during a National Day of Prayer

ceremony at Lee Plaza in downtown Roanoke on Thursday. color.

by CNB