ST. GEORGE – Community and faith leaders gathered Thursday morning for a National Day of Prayer breakfast that brought members of many different faiths together for breakfast, singing and prayers. The event was held at the Gardner Ballroom on the Dixie State University campus.
“I was just so impressed by attending the Interfaith Council Prayer breakfast this morning,” keynote speaker Fraser Bullock said, “because it’s so unique from anything else I’ve ever seen anywhere to have the community of 19 different faiths come together.”
Bullock served as chief operating officer of the Salt Lake City Olympics and is a co-founder of Sorenson Capital.
“They’re all diversified – diverse in terms of their backgrounds and beliefs but they’re unified in purpose of having unity of the community and to strengthen our community and bring peace to our community and around the world,” Bullock said.
“It is one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” Bullock said.
The National Day of Prayer is celebrated on the first Thursday in May, Tim Martin said. Martin is secretary of the St. George Interfaith Council and a member of the public affairs council for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“St. George is now joining the rest of the nation in doing that,” Martin said. With 400 people and 19 different religions, the local event may be unique in the nation, he said.
“It’s just very exciting that we can all be together, especially at this time of dissension, sometimes, in our nation. This is just a wonderful time for us to come together.”
The event is important for several reasons, Martin said. “One is, it recognizes the importance of prayer, not just today but in the history of our nation.”
The event is also an opportunity for the community to come together, he said.
“Everyone here has wonderful friends and neighbors who are not of their faith,” Martin said, “and that’s so important in today’s world that we recognize that we don’t all have to be the same anything to be good friends and to work together.”
“It’s a great event and a wonderful opportunity for many different religious traditions to come together,” said Rev. Michael Chamness of the Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church.
“And I think the best part of it is knowing that we don’t necessarily agree on the methods in the way we do things, we do agree on the heart that stands behind so many things,” Chamness said.
“It’s important because it allows us to see the many different facets of our community, religiously,” Chamness said.
St. George News media reporter Sheldon Demke contributed to this report.
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