Heber City resident Adam Buhl is a Christian who worships with just about any denomination. He attends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the lessons, Mountain View Fellowship for the musical performances and St. Lawrence Catholic Church for its “old school” ambience.
“God’s the same at the different churches. I like to meet everybody. Everybody has a different spin and perspective on everything. I don’t feel that anyone’s right or wrong. If you’re going and worshiping, I feel like you’re in the right spot,” he said.
That’s exactly why Buhl visited Main Street Park on Thursday for an afternoon of communal prayer. The non-denominational Christian event was one of many held across the country to commemorate the National Day of Prayer, which is celebrated on the first Thursday of May.
Community members pray together during the annual National Day of Prayer gathering at Main Street Park in Heber City on Thursday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 
Community members pray together during the annual National Day of Prayer gathering at Main Street Park in Heber City on Thursday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 
Community members pray together during the annual National Day of Prayer gathering at Main Street Park in Heber City on Thursday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 
Community members pray together during the annual National Day of Prayer gathering at Main Street Park in Heber City on Thursday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record 
Attendees bow their heads in prayer during the National Day of Prayer gathering at Main Street Park in Heber City on Thursday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record
President Harry S. Truman established the holiday in 1952, which has been recognized with presidential proclamations and events under many subsequent administrations. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation recognizing the holiday on Wednesday and also announced a plan for a public prayer at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on May 17.
On Tuesday, the Heber City Council unanimously approved a mayoral proclamation to observe the annual day. The City Council also begins every meeting with a thought or prayer, invariably a Christian one.
Mayor Heidi Franco’s proclamation “encourage(s) all citizens to be thankful to God for our blessings, our peace, and protection in our beautiful City and Valley; and pray that God will guide the leaders of this world to make peace and bless us individually with grace.”
The communal prayer in Main Street Park was not an official city event. It was organized by a task force of volunteers led by Janel Krull from Mountain View Fellowship, who is the Wasatch County coordinator on the National Day of Prayer Task Force’s Utah team.
Krull has been organizing the event since she moved to Heber City 11 years ago.
“You can pray about anything. … Say, ‘God, help me find my keys. Help me with my marriage,’” she said. “In some ways, the messier it is, the more He loves it, because it’s coming from the heart. He can handle the angry prayers. He can handle the crying prayers. He can handle the goofball prayers. There’s no formula.”
Volunteers led the crowd through a series of prayers provided by the national organization and then prayed in smaller groups. Each prayer was given in English and Spanish, a first for the event. The group prayed for seven pillars: church, family, education, business, military, government and arts, entertainment and media.
The event began at 2:50 p.m. in honor of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“We’re called to pray for our nation and for our leaders. Even if we don’t like them, we need to pray for them,” explained Kathy Donnell, a volunteer from Mountain View Fellowship.
Current events inspired many attendees’ individual prayers.
Hugo Arrambide, a Heber City local of two decades who attends St. Lawrence, said he was praying for immigrants in light of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mass detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, with and without criminal records, under the current administration.
A Mexican-American immigrant himself, Arrambide shared his gratitude to be able to “contribute” to the country and his church through hard work and service. He expressed his desire for the government to give undocumented immigrants who feel similarly to him a pathway to citizenship.
“I’m not demanding (anything of) the government,” he said. “I just want the people to have a chance, the good people, because I know some people are no good.”
Jared Christiansen, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he was praying for the safety of “innocent people” caught in the middle of the war in Iran.
“The war is brooding over everybody’s minds and hearts,” he said.
Christiansen is part of the church’s communication council for the Wasatch Back region, and as part of that calling, he promotes interfaith events.
“We don’t know enough about each other, frankly. And in our valley, a predominantly LDS valley, I think that we could do a lot more closing of that gap between us and other denominations,” he said.
Christiansen said bridging the gap begins by following Jesus Christ’s example of service to all, regardless of religion.
Buhl agreed with that sentiment.
“I like seeing all the different Christian churches and everybody come together as a body, a community,” he said. “We’re all in this life together. We’re not enemies, and we’re not business competitors. We’re all just here to help each other and do good.”