SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Interfaith events will be held in El Cajon and Encinitas Thursday to mark the National Day of Prayer, while Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells are attending the National Day of Prayer Service at the White House.
The East County Mayors Prayer Luncheon is scheduled to be held at Foothills Christian Church in El Cajon at 11 a.m., featuring remarks from officials representing El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and Lemon Grove. La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis and Lemon Grove Mayor Racquel Vasquez are expected to attend.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at mayorsprayerlunch.com.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells is attending the National Day of Prayer Service at the White House with Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein. Goldstein was invited to the White House event by President Donald Trump in a conversation following Saturday's shooting during which Goldstein lost his right index finger.
Santee Mayor John Minto is also in Washington, D.C. to meet with the state's Congressional delegation to discuss funding for improvements to state Route 52.
Encinitas will hold its 26th annual Interfaith Community Prayer Breakfast at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center Thursday morning, with Mayor Catherine Blakespear, Christian and Jewish clergy members and representatives of the Baha'i Faith set to speak.
"In the midst of the current turmoil happening in America and across the globe, we need to come together as a community to show our love, respect and support for one another, regardless of religious affiliation," Blakespear said. "This year's prayer breakfast will be both a recognition of how far we've come and how much farther we need to go as a people to create a world based on acceptance and inclusion."
A bill signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1988 called on the president to issue a proclamation each year designating the first Thursday in May as a "National Day of Prayer."
In his proclamation declaring today as a National Day of Prayer, Trump said, "Our nation's honored tradition of prayer has sustained us and strengthened our trust that God will continue to watch over and accompany us through the best of times and the darkest hours.
"May we as Americans never forget the power of prayer and the greatness of our Creator. On this National Day of Prayer, let each of us, according to our own faiths, call upon God for His guidance and express our gratitude for the love and grace He bestows on us and our country."
Click here to find other National Day of Prayer events around San Diego County.
