National Day of Prayer, Reshaped By Pandemic, Includes Interfaith and Online Events

(RNS) — The National Day of Prayer, like most events amid the coronavirus, will have a different look this year as it is marked on Thursday (May 7).

Now in its 69th year, the observance — often predominated by evangelical Christians gathering in public places — will feature interfaith and even international voices on computer screens and cellphones.

For the first time, Religions for Peace USA has organized a National Interfaith Prayer Service for Healing & Hope via Facebook and Zoom.

“Of course, we do pray separately in our own religious communities but it’s also important for us to come together to pray together and uplift our common humanity and pray for everyone,” said Tarunjit Singh Butalia, executive director of Religions for Peace USA. 

“Some of our own religious communities, ethnic and others who are poorer, have been in fact quite severely hit with the pandemic so we need to come together and pray for everyone because we’re only as secure as the very least among us,” he added.

Butalia said there will be a “prayer for the infected” that will be offered by a faith leader who has recovered from coronavirus and a “prayer for the dead and their families” offered by a faith leader who lost a close family member to the virus.

The online gathering is set to feature Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Jain, Unitarian Universalist, Christian…