25th Annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast

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Ric Tyler, co-host of the George Hale / Ric Tyler show on the Voice of Maine was the guest speaker with Gov. Paul R. LePage, Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the Adjutant General for the Maine Guard

AUGUSTA, ME (05/05/2016)(readMedia)-- The Maine National Guard hosted the 25th Annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the Augusta Armory today to celebrate the diversity of all faiths and work to build understanding and unity.

Ric Tyler, co-host of the George Hale / Ric Tyler show on the Voice of Maine was the guest speaker with Gov. Paul R. LePage, Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the Adjutant General for the Maine National Guard, providing opening remarks.

A special musical performance was put on by the Belfast High School Acapella choir.

The Maine National Guard Prayer Breakfast was instituted 25 years ago in order to celebrate this day, in the spirit that was intended: to encourage prayer, build understanding among faiths, and to acknowledge God's role in our respective and collective lives.

Today's ceremony drew over 140 members of the community, legislators, state employees, Veterans and service members.

The concept of a day of prayer dates back to the Continental Congress. President Truman signed a congressional bill that mandated that each subsequent President designate a National Day of Prayer at his/her discretion. President Ronald Reagan's 1983 proclamation stated that the two primary intentions of that day "were that it would be a day when adherents of all great religions could unite in prayer and that it may one day bring renewed respect for God to all the peoples of the world." Later, in 1988, Congress set the annual observance as being the first Thursday in May.

The Prayer Breakfast is not a religious service, it is a spiritually based patriotic ceremony welcoming of all faiths and promoting our mutual respect for each other and our thankfulness for God's presence in our lives.

For more information, contact Sgt. 1st Class Peter Morrison at (207) 430-5322, or email ng.me.mearng.list.public-affairs@mail.mil