While followers of many different faiths submit prayers to some higher power, the main observers of the National Day of Prayer at ETSU will be Christian.
While the focus of the event, scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at the ETSU Carillon, is on Christian prayer, it is open to people of all faiths, said Susan Rogers, a technical clerk in the admissions office who organized the campus observance.
The first national observance occurred in 1952, after the resolution was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman.
“Most religions require prayer,” senior public relations major Caty Kidd said. “This exposes students who may have never been around it before to religion.”
Some students would like the exposure to include other religions to reflect the diversity of ETSU’s campus population.
“On a college campus where there’s a diverse population, if we’re going to devote a day of prayer, something should be available for more religions,” said senior theatre major Logan Emerson.
However, since the event is sponsored by a campus ministry – Campus Crusade for Christ – rather than the university itself, other students do not have a problem with the focus on one deity.
“It’s not something everybody has to do, but those who want to can,” said junior English literature student Whitney Nelson.
That element of choice is key, said Dr. Joseph Sobol, program coordinator for ETSU’s Storytelling Program. “Prayer is important to me as a matter of practice, not as an ideology to force on anybody,” Sobol said. “But there’s not somebody coercing anyone, since nobody has to go.”
Although most of the nation will gather to observe the National Day of Prayer on May 1, ETSU students will meet one week early to accommodate the school schedule. The date was purposefully chosen to involve as many people as possible. “We are hoping that by having it early,” Rogers said, “more students would have the opportunity to attend. Most students will be taking finals or have already left by the first of May.”
Several faculty and staff members will lead prayers. Among the subjects is prayer for the U.S. government, led by Dr. Marian Clark, associate professor in the technology and geomatics department. “In scripture it says we’re supposed to pray for our leaders whether we support them or not,” Clark said.
Other speakers include associate Vice President of University Advancement Jeff Anderson, economics professor Dr. Doug Dotterweich, and head golf coach Fred Warren.
Graduate counseling student Priscilla Davis, who was involved in organizing the event in 2006 and 2007, will lead prayer for the local community.
The prayer ceremony was held on Borchuck Plaza in previous years, but moved in 2007 to the carillon to garner more visibility to passing students, Rogers said. There were between 50 and 60 people in attendance last year, and Rogers hopes for a similar number this year. “We would love to see it packed, but with students it’s hard for people to get there,” she said.
This year’s observance will conclude with a new element, a balloon launch allowing listeners to write a prayer on a card and tie it to a balloon. “People will get this piece of paper to write a prayer on and we release them together at the end of the program,” Rogers said. “Both the balloons and the paper are made of biodegradable material.”
The first ETSU observance of National Day of Prayer was in 1996 after Rogers heard of the event on national news. She e-mailed several campus ministry leaders and partnered with Campus Crusade when Earle Chute, the adviser, offered to help. “The observance is a special time when we can all come together as one body to give thanks and lift up the needs of our campus, families, communities and the nation in prayer,” she said.

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