May 2, 2008

National Day of Prayer service prays for community, nation

PRAYER CIRCLE–The attendees and band members present at the National Day of Prayer worship service form a circle to offer the closing prayer. The service was held on the courthouse square on Thursday evening. (Photo by Nathan Marchand)

A worship service commemorating the National Day of Prayer was held on Thursday evening at the courthouse square in Bluffton.

Pastor Neil Ainslie of Lancaster Chapel United Methodist Church led the worship service. Gale Dimmick, who played the keyboard, and Proclamation of Praise provided the music. Laura Ainslie, Pastor Ainslie’s wife, led the worship. The band also included Gary Shroyer on drums, Pastor Ainslie on guitar, and Bill Dimmick managing sound.

Tami Shady gave the opening prayer. Laura Ainslie then led the 15 to 20 people in attendance in the hymns “Bind Us Together” and “Holy Ground.”

Laura Ainslie read James 5:13-18, a passage dealing with the importance of prayer.

Pastor Kent Ringger of Life Community Church offered a prayer for local community.

Laura Ainslie led the attendees in the songs “Heart of Worship” and “The Wonderful Cross.”

Pastor Ainslie read Psalm 72:1-15. This was a passage about God providing wisdom to rulers. This was used to transition to Kim Higginbottom praying for state and national leaders.

Pastor Ainslie then opened up the service to anyone who wanted to share about their experiences in their Bible reading or the prayer walks that week. When the crowd remained quiet, Ainslie shared about taking the youth from Teen Time, a joint ministry of Ossian United Methodist Church and Lancaster Chapel United Methodist Church, on a prayer walk in Ossian on Wednesday evening.

The evening’s worship concluded with the songs “Awesome God,” “Shout to the Lord” and “I’ll Fly Away.”

The service ended with all those in attendance holding hands and forming a circle for the closing prayer.

If anyone is interested in helping to plan next year’s activities for the National Day of Prayer, call Pastor Neil Ainslie at 260-622-7158 or 260-9162.

nathan@news-banner.com

Email Nathan Marchand

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