February 29 Today in OPC History

Several Christian organizations, including the American Council of Christian Churches and the National Association of Evangelicals, joined in declaring Friday, February 29, 1952 as the World’s Day of Prayer. In its February 15 issue, the Presbyterian Guardian outlined some requests for local congregations to include if they chose to participate.

1. Your own church

a. Pastor and family: Be granted patience, grace, wisdom and strength to carry on the many duties
b. Session and deacons: granted knowledge necessary for church leadership, insight into problems of the church, grace to be good examples
c. All organizations: Sunday school, missionary society, young people’s work, men’s league, etc.
d. All stated services: Sunday morning and evening (particularly for better attendance at the latter); prayer meeting
e. That it may be a witness in the community in which it is located

2. Denomination

a. That the work will go forward; churches may increase; that it may be a lighthouse throughout the world, maintaining its steadfastness in the Reformed faith
b. Its agencies: Home Missions Committee; Foreign Missions Committee; Christian Education Committee
c. Churches without pastors: Crescent Park, N.J., Harrisville, Pa., Baltimore, Md., Middletown, Pa.

3. Missionaries

a. Home and foreign: See January issue of Guardian for list of all our missionaries and fields. In addition, remember the Gaffin family here at home, and the Bird family who have recently been appointed to go to Eritrea.
b. For missionaries of other denominations who are faithfully upholding the truth in dark places of the world
c. That many of our young people may be led of the Lord to do missionary work in the needy fields of the world (especially our own fields in Korea, Japan, Formosa and Eritrea)

4. Guardian

a. Its editorial staff
b. That circulation may increase

5. Westminster Theological Seminary

a. Its faculty
b. Its students
c. Mr. Atwell (during his trip for the Seminary this month)
d. Administrative workers

6. Christian schools

a. Teachers and pupils
b. Increased interest among Christian people

7. National leaders

a. That they may know Christ and place hope for future peace in Him

8. Armed forces

a. Young men in service
b. Chaplains: All who preach the true gospel, but particularly for our own chaplains, Lynne Wade and John Betzold

9. World Peace

a. That the present Korean conflict will soon end, and that there will be world peace for many years to come

10. Unsaved

a. Enemy leaders
b. False teachers (Modernists and other unbelievers)
c. In your own locality

Picture: Leslie Sloat, editor of the Presbyterian Guardian