A beautiful day was just one of many things local Christians thanked God for Thursday afternoon at the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer held in front of the Schuylkill County Courthouse.
"It is a wonderful day," the Rev. William "Bill" Orf, pastor of The Lighthouse Church in Orwigsburg, said Thursday. "Apparently, God is in favor of people praying."
National Day of Prayer was first proclaimed in 1952 in a joint resolution of Congress signed by President Harry Truman. Since President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1988, National Day of Prayer has been celebrated on the first Thursday of May each year.
"We are not here to just ritually say a prayer, but we are here to represent people in our nation, our state, our area, so that He might bless us," Orf said.
Last year, Orf donated a painting of George Washington praying on his knees at Valley Forge to Commissioner George F. Halcovage, who hung it in the commissioners' board room.
State Sen. Dave Argall, R-29, who led the prayer for government at the gathering, received a painting of the same scene Thursday.
Argall was thankful for the painting and said it was because of Washington that his ancestors came to America from Europe in search of religious freedom.
"I thank God that she (my mother) was able to make that voyage because without that trip, my mother and her three sisters would not have grown up just over the hill here in Saint Clair," Argall said.
Many different churches throughout Schuylkill County were represented at the event Thursday.
The Rev. David Poissant, a pastor at the Foursquare Life Center Church, led the prayer for the nation.
"How many different churches do we have represented here?" Poissant said. "We have just one church that is represented here: The Church of Jesus Christ."
Members of the Alethia Club at the Pottsville Area High School were also there to celebrate National Day of Prayer.
Club President Corinne Bricker, a senior, said she has been at the event the last four years.
"It's an important part of our club," Bricker said.