Prayer Over the City in St. George returns to usher in new year with supplications for unity, prosperity

ST. GEORGE — The annual interfaith Prayer Over the City event returns for an 18th year this Saturday, Dec. 31, to usher in the new year with prayers and supplications of hope and unity for the future.

In this file photo, Shadman Bashir, a representative for the Islam Community on the St. George Interfaith Council, offers a prayer of devotion and asks for blessings at Prayer Over the City 2022, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News

The event will be held at noon at the St. George Tabernacle on New Year’s Eve and will feature faith leaders from various Christian and non-Christian faiths who will offer short prayers on behalf of varying parts of the community.

A Jewish rabbi may offer a prayer for the area’s first responders to be protected and comforted as they undertake stressful and potentially dangerous roles, while a Presbyterian minister may ask God to look after the community’s public educators.

In addition to faith leaders representing the area’s Christian and Jewish communities, other faiths featured at Prayer Over the City over the years have included Islam and Buddhism, as well as the Sikh and Beha’i faiths.

Prayers also are offered for officials in local, state and federal government, families in general, the military, those who feel lost and isolated or those trying to overcome fear and so on.

“This is such a great way to kick off the new year,” Rev. Jimi Kestin, of Solomon’s Porch Foursquare Fellowship, told St. George News last year. Kestin was one of the primary organizers of the interfaith event 18 years ago.

Prayers for community unity and harmony are also staples of the interfaith event by faith leaders who, despite having diverse beliefs, come together with a unified purpose to benefit the community, Kestin said.

In this file photo, Rev. Jimi Kestin of Solomon’s Porch Foursquare Fellowship offers the opening remarks and welcome at Prayer Over the City 2022, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News

“We’re so grateful for the way that this community has embraced the faith community and the many churches that make it up,” Kestin said following the 2022 Prayer Over the City event. “All of us came here with strong and deeply held beliefs. However, we all stand in unity that does not require uniformity and with the understanding that what we do have in common is a deep love for this community and a desire to make this the best place to raise our families and build a life.”

Many of the faiths involved are also a part of the St. George Interfaith Council, which, like the prayer event, is focused on developing a sense of unity between the various religions found in the area while also prompting greater visibility for them.

It is through the annual New Year’s Day prayer event that the interfaith council came into being in 2010, said Tim Martin, the interfaith council’s secretary, as well as one of its founding members.

“The purpose is to have communication among all the faith communities and make sure that we are talking to each other, have service projects – to work together when there is a need for something to happen,” Martin said.

Prayer Over the City also led to the creation of the St. George Interfaith Choir, which provides music for the prayer event and other interfaith activities.

The first Prayer Over the City took place in Pioneer Park on the red hill overlooking St. George.

In this file photo, a man prays at the Prayer Over the City, an annual event that features members of different faiths offering short prayers of hope and unity for the community in the coming year, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2018 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Kestin said a handful of people attended the outdoor event despite the cold. Dan McArthur, who was the mayor of St. George at the time, recommended the event be taken inside and helped secure the use of the St. George Tabernacle which is owned and maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The tabernacle has served as the traditional home of the annual event with the exception of the years the building was under renovation and closed later on due to the COVID-19 pandemic for New Year’s Day 2020 and 2021.

Prayer Over the City was held at a building on the campus of the former Dixie State University (now Utah Tech University) during the tabernacle’s renovation and was broadcast from the St. George Catholic Church’s social hall during the pandemic.

Prayer Over the City will take place at noon, Saturday, Dec. 31, in the St. George Tabernacle on 18 S. Main St. The event is free and open to the public.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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