Celebrating a day of prayer

Michele Marr

This morning the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council will

celebrate the National Day of Prayer by hosting its sixth annual

Prayer Breakfast, this year at Sts. Simon and Jude Roman Catholic

Church.

The theme for the breakfast is “Many Faces, One Family” and as

many as 300 residents from throughout the greater Huntington Beach

area and many faith traditions are expected to attend.

“We are once again blessed with an opportunity to share the word,

some music and some brotherhood in celebrating our National Day of

Prayer,” said the Rev. Bruce Patterson, pastor of St. Bonaventure

Roman Catholic Church and president of the Greater Huntington Beach

Interfaith Council.

A mariachi band will greet the crowd and open the 90-minute

multi-denominational program of music, prayer and inspirational

messages. Patterson will give the invocation.

“This event could change your life,” said Dave Garofalo, a member

of the interfaith council and one of the program’s organizers. “It

will certainly begin your day in an enjoyable and thoughtful way.”

The emphasis this year is on inclusiveness. Through music, song

and word, the council looks forward to bringing all faiths together

“for a common moment of hope for all,” Garofalo said.

The highlight of the breakfast agenda will be the presentation of

this year’s Peacemaker Awards to two long-time members of the

community, Rabbi Stephen Einstein, senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai

Tzedek and past president of the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith

Council, and Ed Arnold of KOCE.

“They have touched many lives and they are blessed with a level of

energy, honesty and integrity that goes beyond the different uniforms

they wear while they perform their respective daily routines,” said

Garofalo. “Ron and Steve embellish those traits and we have decided

to recognize them among the 300,000 men, women and children who

reside in the greater Huntington Beach area.”

Bruce Miller of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day

Saints will speak on “Walking Our Talk: The Power of Prayer.”

Guest speaker, David DeLuca, author of “Vivekananda: Lessons In

Classical Yoga,” present a message titled, “Faith: Celebration of

Life.”

The Rev. Peggy Price, senior minister of the Huntington Beach

Church of Religious Science and also a past president of the

interfaith council, will join Rabbi Einstein and Maria Khani of the

Orange County Islamic Society in leading a prayer reflecting the

theme, “Many Faces, One Family.”

Jean Turrell will direct the Huntington Beach Church of Religious

Science choir in singing Heartsong’s “It Takes a Village,” and Mark

Purcell, director of the Sts. Simon and Jude music ministry, will

lead its children’s choir in singing “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,

a Salute to America.”

Soloist Debi Wheeler-Ure, music director for this year’s program,

will sing “At the Same Time,” and lead the audience in the concluding

“Peace Song.”

“We are not alone in this celebration,” Wheeler-Ure said. “It’s

the National Day of Prayer and we are honoring the day with our

celebration.”

For Wheeler-Ure, the value of the event is in providing a place

for people of all faiths to come and share their faith, whatever

their tradition.

“While the world might be at war, we are going to take a deep

breath and see if we can’t wage a little peace in our backyard, by

the power of prayer through music and word, presented in an

entertaining and meaningful way,” Patterson said.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at michele@soulfoodfiles.com.