LIHUE — Kauai will have two events to mark the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 2.
Kauai Island Ministries and other churches will lead a gathering from 4 to 6 p.m. at Kauai Veterans Center.
This Kauai Day of Prayer event, at sunset, will be the final one across the nation that will begin with a sunrise Day of Prayer in Maine.
The goal is there will be prayers countrywide throughout the day, said organizers.
Another Day of Prayer celebration is set for 9 to 11 a.m. at the Lihue Civic Center Rotunda. The theme is “Love One Another.”
The free program is a collaboration of many religions, including the Interfaith Roundtable of Kauai and ministers of several Christian denominations, according to a press release.
Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami will also participate in the National Day of Prayer.
“We are pleased to be able to continue to celebrate the long-standing tradition of the National Day of Prayer,” Kawakami said in the press release. “All are welcome to come together in unity to pray for our nation and local government.”
After opening with a traditional Hawaiian pule, prayer offerings are expected from followers of Bahai, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Center for Spiritual Living, Christianity, Christian Mysticism, Eckankar, Fellowship of the Inner Light, Happy Science, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, New Thought/Unity, Quaker, Roman Catholic, Secular Humanism, Sikh and Yoga.
The National Day of Prayer has deep roots in this country, having been declared in 1775 by the Continental Congress in forming a new nation.
It was later recognized by first President George Washington in 1789. In 1952, the Congress passed a bill proclaiming National Day of Prayer. And on May 5, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law official recognition of the first Thursday in May annually as the National Day of Prayer.
