As you plan chapter activities for the DAR year, remember our Society’s emphasis on “God, Home and Country.” Are you aware of the official NSDAR Day of Prayer and the National Day of Prayer?
This year The NSDAR Day of Prayer is Sunday, October 13, 2013. That date is decided by determining the Sunday closest to the date of the founding of DAR, which was October 11th, 1890. Future days of NSDAR days of prayer will be on Sunday, October 12, 2014, and on Sunday, October 11, 2015.
The National Day of Prayer is Thursday May 1, 2014. Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long standing and significant history in American tradition. The Supreme Court affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer (1983). Days of prayer have been called for since 1775, when the Continental Congress desired a time for prayer in forming a new nation.
The National Day of Prayer was established as an annual event by an act of Congress in 1952, and was signed into law by President Truman. President Reagan amended the law in 1988, designating the first Thursday of May each year to bring us all together.
You can observe one or both of these special days with your chapters. The day can be as simple as remembering the DAR in your personal prayers during a church service. Arranging an informal meeting with your chapter in a park for quiet, non-denominational time for prayer and reflection would be appropriate to remember the day. Chapter newsletters or a prayer chain can be utilized to remember the day.
According to last year’s Master Questionnaire, only about twenty chapters participated in a day of prayer. Please remember to report your activities so the state chaplain can accurately report chapter day of prayer activities to the National Society. The state chaplain looks forward to reading the reports of chapter chaplains.
Please remember, you may contact the state chaplain at any time.
Sandra Orozco
State Chaplain
chaplain@californiadar.org