A countywide celebration of National Day of Prayer was held in front of the Ross County Courthouse, Thursday afternoon. A crowd of the faithful gathered to pray for our local educators, elected officials, and first responders.
Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney spoke of unity as he delivered a proclamation naming the first Thursday in May as the Chillicothe Day of Prayer.
"This year's them was unity," said Mayor Feeney. "Which I think is a particularly good theme right now, not only for the country, but for the local community. We certainly appreciate everyone's prayers today."
Ross County Sheriff George Lavender says, as both a first responder, and an elected official, his faith has been a driving force.
"I don't think any of us elected officials could do this job without prayer in the community," said Sheriff Lavender. "We're living in such changing times and we pray that people will continue to bathe us in prayer, because God makes things a lot easier. He lightens that load when sometimes we're so compressed with the load that we don't know if we're going to make it to the next day."
National Prayer Day was created in 1952. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer.