Breakfast May 4 to include worship, fellowship
The South Valley will observe this year’s National Day of Prayer with a breakfast May 4.
The National Day of Prayer, an annual event established by Congress and President Harry S. Truman in 1952, is a day for all Americans, regardless of religion, to celebrate their faiths through prayer. Across the country, thousands of events are coordinated on the first Thursday in May that allow people to come together and pray for a variety of issues with a focus on federal, state and local government leaders.
The South Valley will observe the day with a breakfast at Crossroads Christian Center’s gym in Morgan Hill. Prayer in small groups will be offered for families, marriages, youth and college students, churches and pastors, leaders in local, state and national government, those in the military, local schools and businesses, local gang members and terrorists, and those struggling with personal issues.
Beverly Olivier-Blount, worship leader at Gilroy Presbyterian Church, will lead the group in singing, accompanied by Andrea Byerly from Hollister Christian Fellowship.
“This is the only event each year in the South Valley where we have churches come together to pray and worship,” said Wanda Puder, the coordinator for this year’s South Valley event and member of the Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church. “What we’re trying to do is cross boundaries. We’re trying to network pastors so they can meet each other and get to know each other so we can work together.”
Roughly 140 people locally attended last year’s event, which was called the Morgan Hill Day of Prayer, Puder said. The name was changed to the South Valley Day of Prayer this year to reflect inclusion of the entire south Santa Clara Valley from Morgan Hill to Hollister, Puder said.
“We wanted to show the whole valley, all the churches, that we are one community,” she explained. “We’re hoping to get 180 to 200 people there this year.”
Eighteen pastors from various churches in the area will participate, including Carlos Fuentes from Iglesia de Dios in Hollister, Jeff Rye from LifePointe Christian Community in Gilroy, Fred Padilla from Church on the Rock in Morgan Hill, and Mike Michaelsen from Church of the Valley in San Martin.
Support for the event is entirely by donation of those attending.
