God Returns to America's Public Square

Sept. 17, 2001 - In the days following the Sept. 11 attack on America, "pray" has become the rallying cry heard around the nation - and topics of religion and faith have surged front and center in the news. One Washington, D.C., commentator noted, "No one is asking for atheists they can interview on their talks shows" and Fox News reported Saturday, "We've seen a resurgence of public religion - Americans are rediscovering the power of faith."

Perhaps nothing so vividly symbolizes that public resurgence as when the members of Congress stood shoulder-to-shoulder and sang "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps.

Even secular newspapers are looking for prayers to print. USA Today will feature a full page ad tomorrow - "To help America speak to God with one voice: A Prayer by the Nation, For the Nation" - co-sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), America's National Prayer Committee, the National Day of Prayer Task Force, and the Mission America Coalition.

The NAE also urged its 51 member denominations and 43,000 churches to mobilize for a "National Day of Mourning and Prayer," on Sunday, Sept. 16. "Many people will look to churches, pastors, and people of faith for guidance and help," said Dr. Edward L. Foggs, NAE's chairman of the board. "The National Association of Evangelicals encourages denominations, churches and organizations to look to the Word of God for wisdom at this time and to be the people of God in the midst of tragedy."

Focus on the Family president James Dobson urged a national TV audience Friday to teach children to pray as a way of helping them learn to deal with the tragedy. He told CNN's Larry King: "Americans are very resilient. They have many resources, and two of the greatest are their families and their faith. And I believe that's where we will turn this time."

President George W. Bush set the tone at the government level when he designated Sept. 14 a "National Day of Prayer and Remembrance," asking Americans to attend religious services of their choosing on their lunch hour and conduct candlelight prayer vigils in the evening.

Former Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter and Ford joined Bush at the Washington National Cathedral service Friday, which was broadcast nationally. "Our purpose as a nation is firm," said Bush. "Yet our wounds as a people are recent and unhealed, and lead us to pray.

"In many of our prayers this week, there is a searching, and an honesty," Bush continued. "At St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Tuesday, a woman said, 'I prayed to God to give us a sign that He is still here.' God's signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral, are known and heard, and understood."

The Rev. Billy Graham told the congregation: "Today we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We've always needed God from the very beginning of time. But today we need Him especially."

Graham noted that the tragedy "can give a message of hope to the present and future. Yes, there is hope for the present because I believe the stage has already been set for a new spirit in our nation," he said. "One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country. We need a spiritual revival in America. God has told us in His Word time after time that if we repent of our sins and we turn to Him, He will bless us in a new way."

At the Pentagon, crowds of employees gathered for several ecumenical prayer services in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack. The service held at noon Friday in the Pentagon auditorium concluded with an overflow crowd of tearful employees singing "God Bless America."

Americans in all 50 states joined together Saturday for "America Prays," a vigil led by some of the nation's top pastors and speakers. Franklin Graham, James Dobson, Max Lucado, Bruce Wilkinson and John Maxwell led the nation in prayer from Glad Tidings Church in Lake Charles, La.

The event was captured and sent via satellite to some 1,500 churches and broadcast on FamilyNet and Sky Angel; webcast on Crosswalk.com, and broadcast on radio through both the Salem and Moody networks.

Sunday church crowds rivaled those seen on Christmas, a fact reported by most major news organizations. In the center of Manhattan, in Washington's suburbs, and across the heartland of America, sanctuaries filled with overflow crowds.

According to the Washington Post, some people said they had taken "an unfamiliar step into a church to feel a solidarity with their fellow bereaved citizens," while others said they'd come for healing and to pray for the dead.

The two morning services at the Washington National Cathedral drew about 7,000 people of all faiths, with hundreds more listening to the sermon on loudspeakers in the plaza outside. Sunday services normally draw about 1,500 people, a cathedral spokesman said.

Fox News reports that at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church on New York City's Upper East Side, firefighters from the East 85th Street station carried bread and wine to the altar for communion. The fire brigade at East 85th Street was one of the early crews on the scene, and has one known fatality plus nine others missing. Afterwards, as they somberly walked back down the aisle to leave, the congregation bid them farewell for several minutes with an emotional standing ovation. Parishioners sobbed.

But some pastors conducted "business as usual." Rod Stafford, senior pastor of Fairfax Community Church in suburban Virginia, said he did not need to prepare a special sermon.

"On any given Sunday," explained Stafford, "no matter what is going on, the church has something relevant to say. We don't need to change our message on the basis of world events."

While the terrorists may have intended to bring America to its knees, perhaps they did not realize how fitting an analogy that would be. It has driven the nation to prayer. As Billy Graham said, "...those perpetrators who took this on to tear us apart, it has worked the other way."