“Pray with me,” Reverend Vaughn Stafford said in front of the Lowndes County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon.

Hundreds of people bowed their heads with him, gathered on the courthouse lawn and Second Avenue for the Christian Community in Prayer’s 13th annual local event observing the National Day of Prayer.

Chairman Nell Bateman said the Christian Community in Prayer started back in 2012. At that time, just a few people gathered in Lowndes County to observe the National Day of Prayer. But over the years, the event has grown significantly.

“It got started because for a couple of years, there had not been much of an observance here,” Bateman said. “In 2010, there was just a little small crowd. And in 2011, there might have been eight people. And we stood there and looked at each other and thought, ‘This can’t be. This is the National Day of Prayer. Columbus can do better than this.’”

On Thursday, Bateman said, the group had printed 500 programs to give out to attendees, sharing song lyrics and the order of the day’s events, including community leaders like Stafford leading prayers for repentance, churches and ministries, families, government, military, education, health care and first responders, and business and media, along with a unison prayer.

All of the group’s programs had been given out before the event was over.

“It’s wonderful that people have their private prayer time and they have their church prayer time,” Bateman said. “That’s all great. But this is a community. You’re coming out of your buildings, you’re coming out of your homes, and we’re saying ‘hey, you’re my brother, you’re my sister, let’s pray together.’”

Dannie Hughes, a committee member, said Christian Community in Prayer also includes members of all denominations, including Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and more.

“I don’t think Jesus looks down and says, ‘what church do you go to?’” Hughes said. “As long as you’re in His church, and we want to unite the church of Jesus Christ.”

Lowndes County Supervisors Board President Trip Hairston said the county is honored to host the event at the courthouse every year, as a common place for people from “all walks of life” to come out and pray.

“We think it’s important to pray for others, and also, we think it’s very important to pray for our leaders, for our churches, for those in our community and for our families.”

Observances of national prayer days for the country go back to the 1700s, Hughes said, but in 1952, a bill was passed saying the president shall set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year, other than Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer.

In 1988, the law was amended, standardizing the day for the National Day of Prayer to the first Thursday of May. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation in keeping with the law on Thursday.

Sammy Crawford was one of many who attended the National Day of Prayer program on the courthouse lawn. He said he and his wife “always come” for the program.

“We believe in the power of prayer,” Crawford said. “We believe in the Lord. We know we need him. The city needs him. The world needs him.”

Brenda Heard was another attendee of the National Day of Prayer event. She said she has been coming out to the event for the past four or five years, and she wishes there were prayer events even more often.

“If this was once a month, I’d be grateful,” Heard said. “… Especially in a city like Columbus, here, there’s been so much violence and crime going on. I think just as a community, bringing everybody together to pray, I think it’s just outstanding.”

Her relative, Sharon Heard, said they both attend the Church of Christ Divine.

“No change happens without prayer,” Sharon said.

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