Roswell’s Day of Prayer

publication date: May 5, 2008

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author/source: Jonathan Copsey / STAFF

By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF

Reverend Neville Billy (left) led the National Day of Prayer in Roswell, with Jeff Huenniger (right) of the Georgia Family Council leading the prayer on families.

May 1 was National Day of Prayer and Roswell held its service as it has done for many years – at the Faces of War Memorial, located behind City Hall. Leading the prayers was Reverend Neville Billy of Raise His Praise Worship Center. The event included seven segments of prayers, each focusing on and praying for help and guidance in an important aspect of today’s world.

Pastors from several churches in Roswell and the surrounding communities took part in the service, offering prayers and words of guidance to those assembled in front of the war memorial. Members of the community were invited to pray on their respective specialties. Roswell Councilman Rich Dippolito said a prayer for guidance in government, and former Roswell High School football coach Tim McFarlin gave a prayer for the schools and children.

The seven prayer segments focused on government, education, business, military, media, church and family.

The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 as a day for members of all faiths to come together and pray for the country. 
“[A National Day of Prayer is] vital for the nation,” said Rev. Billy. “I find that the core institution, the family, is under siege right now. We have depleting values, shifting mindsets, and respect and values have been negotiated away for a sense of freedom [while] overlooking the history of where we came from. And we just want to make sure that we are able to reinforce our values. The walls of a house can change. You can modify them and elaborate them, but the foundation has to be solid. The decoration can come later.”

Among the city officials attending the service were Dippolito and fellow city councilman Jerry Orlans as well as city administrator Kay Love. According to Rev. Billy, Mayor Jere Wood normally attends but was away on business this year. Wood did leave a proclamation honoring the national Day of Prayer.

The call to action for help against an ever changing and secularizing nation was given through a analogy of the school system. 

“What happens in the schools is a reflection of what is happening in our society,” said Billy. “Georgia has the second highest dropout rate in the country. There’s a lot of bullying going on and a lot of violence, and things that we never dreamed of are happening in our nation. We can’t just sit back and expect things to correct themselves. We need to get involved.

“We’re all facing similar challenges but if we pool our resources together we can reinforce our efforts to build our nation and entrench ourselves against the changing world.”