By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Although several of the prayers were desperate in nature, an overall feeling of hope echoed off the walls of Escambia County High School’s Cornell Torrence Gymnasium during the local National Day of Prayer (NDP) service, held last Thursday, May 1.
A quick-moving thunderstorm probably held down the attendance number, but it did little to dampen the zeal and enthusiasm of those who did take part.
Almost two dozen preachers, laymen and others delivered or led prayers during the 90-minute religious ceremony. There were singers, instrumentalists and even a dancer who helped chase away, at least temporarily, thoughts of despair that seem to prevail in the minds of many Atmore residents and other Americans.
Dr. Kevin Garrett, pastor of Atmore First Baptist Church, welcomed the several dozen men, women and children who attended the day’s main observance. (There was a separate service for children, conducted by Miss Flippy Toe, inside the Redemption’s Promise Ministry (RPM) trailer, just outside the ECHS gym.)
Dietrich Bondurant, a virtual fixture at local NDP observances, followed Garrett with a trumpeted version of “The Holy City,” then a squad of Atmore First Assembly of God’s (AOG’s) Royal Rangers presented the colors, and Jessica Caraway sang and translated into sign language The National Anthem.
After Atmore Mayor Jim Staff read a proclamation designating the day as NDP in the city, the Rev. Derek Gobert (United Pentecostal Church) read The Shema, an ancient Hebrew prayer, Katie and Raylee Burchell, a mother-daughter duo from Monroe County, blasted a short tune on a pair of Shofars, ancient trumpets made from a ram’s horn.
The preachers took over then.
First, the Rev. Don Davis (AOG) delivered a prayer of repentance, then Poarch Creek Fire Chief Chris McGhee prayed for first responders and law enforcement officers, and Rick Minchew (Anonymity Rescue Ministries) prayed for human trafficking victims and their rescuers.
Ashanti Lowery, a Flomaton High School graduate who now attends Coastal Alabama Community College, then provided a break from the spoken pleas with an interpretive dance to “Curse Breaker.” The youngster’s animated performance brought many in the crowd to their feet and elicited cheers, waving hands and shouts of “amen.”
Following Lowery’s performance, attendees and pastors broke off into circled groups to offer combined prayers for government, church, military, family, education, media and business. The series of vocal litanies was followed by Bible readings that reflected the particular verse each person received when he or she entered the gym.
After Bondurant played a passionate version of “Because He Lives,” the Rev. Cleitis Walker Sr. of Gaines Chapel AME Church provided the benediction.
“I almost fell apart during that last one,” one attendee said of Bondurant’s musical offerings, while another said she thought this year’s community prayer service was “one of our best” and added that she felt “blessed to be here again” and “can’t think of anything better.”
The Rev. Willie Hawthorne, who earlier sang “I Need Thee,” also led one of the specialized prayer circles.
Other pastors and lay speakers who took part in the annual observance were the Rev. Charles Johnson; the Rev. Michael Jackson; Ron Starns; the Rev. Gary Whitley; Overseer Isabell Brazzell; the Rev. Tommy Thomas; Michael Roley; the Rev. Michael Wilson; Bishop Bernard Bishop; Apostle Mary America; Bishop Wayne Johnson; Thaddeus Pace; and the Rev. Keith Lisenby.
Members of The Elegant Ladies of Essence and The Yellow Hat Society served as ushers.