Community Bible reading at Four Freedoms gazebo

Beginning on Sunday, May 3, at 6 p.m., leading up to National Day of Prayer, the Bible will be read at the gazebo at Four Freedoms Park in Madison. You are invited to sign up to read at a time convenient for you-- contact Kay Harris at (850) 973-3238 for additional information or to reserve a time. The National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 7. It calls on people of different faiths in the United States to pray for the nation and its leaders and is held on the first Thursday of May each year. In 1775 the Continental Congress allocated a time for prayer in forming a new nation. Over the years, there have been calls for a day of prayer, including from President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law in the United States. President Reagan amended the law in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May each year as the National Day of Prayer. The law was amended once more, adding that the President of the United States is to issue a proclamation on the National Day of Prayer. It was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998. Each year, the President issues a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation in churches, in groups and as individuals.