Day of Prayer to honor law enforcement

The community will come together May 2 to celebrate the National Day of Prayer; the ceremony will include a special tribute to law enforcement.

The ceremony, which is being sponsored locally by the California Ministerial Alliance, will be held at 12:10 p.m. at the flag pole in front of the Moniteau County Courthouse.

The National Day of Prayer is a day set aside for communities to pray for elected federal, state and local government officials.

Pastor Frank Hensley of New Life Christian Center said: "We always want to give special tribute to our law enforcement officers. We always lift them up and give our heartfelt and thoughtful prayers for them. As spiritural leaders, we want to reaffirm to our law enforcement officials that we're behind them."

Hensley added: "We hope that as we do this, it'll be an encouragement and reminder to them of what they do throughout the year."

Chick-Fil-A boxed lunches will be served as a special tribute lunch for all law officers, firefighters and emergency response personnel in the area. Elected officials will also be able to enjoy a boxed lunch.

The celebration will begin with members of the Veterans of Foreign Affairs leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Then songs glorifying God and patriotic songs are usually sung, Hensley said. Pastors in the alliance will then lead in prayers and scripture reading.

"A very large variety of churches and pastors will be coming together for this," he said. "We definitely want to cross any denominational lines and be very diverse and come together to pray for our country and community."