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By Jada Haynes

ALBANY — The Albany Dougherty National Prayer Committee held a Day of Prayer on Thursday, during which dozens of people congregated in the Government Center courtyard to sing, listen to speakers and come together in groups to pray for their cities and the nation.

The theme this year was “Unity of the Spirit.” The program included an introduction by Larry Price, a volunteer chairperson for the committe, three songs by William Collins, and speeches and prayers by Albany Technical College President Anthony Parker, Dougherty County Commission Chair Chris Cohilas and John Culbreath along with cluster groups of worship.

Price has coordinated the Day of Prayer three times. He said Ginny Hayman was instrumental in localizing the National Day of Prayer event in the 1970s. He has taken over her organizing duties since her passing.

“We got people of all faiths and different denominations to (take part in the Day of Prayer),” Price said. “This is actually something that we do for all people to come together and pray for our city, and our county, and our state and nation.”

Janice Thomas, an attendee at the event, said this was her second time participating. She said fellowship is what she likes most about the Day of Prayer.

“It was awesome,” she said. “If we can get more people to participate in this and unite ourselves in prayer, God’ll smile. He’ll smile and favor us all over.”

Parker led a prayer asking for guidance.

“I humbly ask God to give us strength to do what is right for Albany,” he said. “To do unto others as we would have them do for our families … First listen to the words that an individual says and then observe their actions. Look at race and gender last, if not at all.”

Cohilas’ prayer asked for communal unity.

“Last year, we learned what this community can do when it truly embraces unity of spirit,” he said. “We were all impacted (by the 2017 storms); young, old, rich, poor, black, white, man and woman. We hurt for each other, we helped each other … It has been my experience that when we as a community find what we stand for as opposed to what we stand against, that therein we find peace … I challenge those that are here and those that hear these words today, that when you hear people in the community talk about all that is wrong with Albany, I challenge you to ask yourselves and to ask those people that are speaking, ‘How can I stand with my fellow brothers and sisters to do the right thing and improve our community, where we chose to live?’”

John Culbreath, a retired educator, led a prayer asking for a return to certain values.

“In this age of the Internet, email, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and smartphones, you may think we have to invent new values and new principles to live by,” he said. “Not so. We simply need to re-dig the wells our parents and our grandparents dug. Self-respect, respect for the dignity and worth of all people, love of God, love of family, love of country and the spirit of helping somebody as you pass along so your living will not be in vain.”

Collins ended the group prayers with a rendition of the Lord’s Prayer.

The National Day of Prayer takes place each year on the first Thursday of May.