As the Army captain in a crisp green uniform and black beret offered a prayer for the military, Stephanie Clemons stood in the shade outside the state Capitol and thought of the person who is always at the top of her prayer list: her husband.
Tony Clemons, 33, is at Fort Bragg, N.C. She hasn’t heard from him in two weeks, but that can happen when your husband joins the Army’s Special Forces.
He will be deployed as soon as his training is finished in about a year – maybe to Iraq, maybe somewhere else.
So at the annual National Day of Prayer observance Thursday on the Capitol’s west steps, the words from Chaplain Mike Du Charme, an Army captain from Fort Carson, were welcome comfort to one soldier’s wife.
“Sure, it helps,” said Clemons, keeping an eye on her three children: Margaret, 6, Jimmy, 5, and Antoinette, 4. “But everybody needs prayer. Everybody.”
Who is in your prayers, Margaret?
“People caught in the tidal wave.”
Anyone else?
“Christians in the Army.”
Anyone in particular?
“My daddy.”
Founded by Congress in 1952 to cover all faiths, the National Day of Prayer in recent years largely has been embraced by evangelical Christians. The Colorado Springs-based National Day of Prayer Task Force has started a network of state and local coordinators to promote a Judeo-Christian observance, including the one in downtown Denver and another in Colorado Springs.
The task force is chaired by Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family. Both were in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the national event.
In Denver, volunteers passed out “I prayed” stickers, and a speaker led 200 to 300 people in attendance in shouting, “God, shed your grace on Denver!”
Pastors offered prayers for everything from repentance and revival to young adults and families.
“We’re not here to proselytize our own unique doctrines,” said the Rev. Gary Hines, pastor of North Huron Christian Center in Thornton. “Rather, we’re here to rally around that which unites us – the person, the power and the presence of Almighty God and his son Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit.”
In Colorado Springs, about 100 youths gathered at Confluence Park as a Christian rock band played, children jumped in inflatable bounce houses and people visited “prayer stations.”
Elisha Whitten, 28, of Palmer Lake said the National Day of Prayer is a “quiet symbol. God is powerful, and he calls us to come together and pray. There’s a lot of evil in the world, and Christians believe that we should come together and pray … It’s more like a family.”
“There is a biblical world view, and there is a culture without that,” said Victoria Migidyuk, 21, who works with the Christian ministry Youth With a Mission. “Right now, America is struggling between the two. I think America is searching more, especially after Sept. 11. The church is realizing that it is the place to reclaim the people of America.”
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at egorski@denverpost.com or 303- 820-1698.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at eemery@denverpost.com or 719- 522-1360.