{"id":26500,"date":"2025-09-01T16:47:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T21:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=26500"},"modified":"2025-09-01T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T21:47:22","slug":"they-asked-you-to-pray-at-the-secular-convention-and-you-agreed-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/they-asked-you-to-pray-at-the-secular-convention-and-you-agreed-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"They asked you to pray at the secular convention and you agreed. Now what?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sooner or later this happens to every pastor:\u00a0 Some civic (<\/em>translation: \u2018<\/em>non-religious\u2018) outfit calls and asks you to lead a prayer at their gathering.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s the city council or state legislature, sometimes it\u2019s a convention or some club\u2019s gathering.\u00a0 You are faced with the decision on what to say and what you should not say.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

So here’s my story.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was in my fourth year pastoring the First Baptist Church of Kenner, LA, in metro New Orleans (across the street from the New Orleans International Airport).\u00a0 I received a phone call one day informing me that when the American Dental Association held its annual meeting in our city a few months hence, they wanted me to offer the invocation.\u00a0 I was surprised and honored.<\/p>\n

The caller said I would have three minutes for the prayer. She added, \u201cAnd Pastor, please make it interdenominational.\u201d\u00a0 In my journal I wrote: \u201cHad she said to omit the name of Jesus, I would have declined the honor for the sake of principle. As it was, I felt I could do something that would satisfy everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day came.\u00a0 It was a huge hotel in downtown New Orleans.\u00a0 Perhaps 700 to 1,000 people in the room.<\/p>\n

Here is what I wrote in my journal:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President of the ADA is Dr. Gaines, a dentist from Greenville, SC.\u00a0 Said his SS teacher gave him my name.\u00a0 Dr. John Roberts, editor of the SC Baptist Courier.\u00a0 Just before the meeting started (8:30 am), backstage I met Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1994 (or is it 1995?), the near-deaf lass from Alabama.\u00a0 We spoke briefly.\u00a0\u00a0Before leading the pledge of allegiance she told the audience how much she loves this country and is grateful to those who have kept it free.\u00a0 Her chaperone whispered to me, \u201cI never know what she\u2019s going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

After she finished, I prayed the invocation.\u00a0 Shall I record it here?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our Father who art in Heaven.\u00a0 Thank you for Heather Whitestone!\u00a0 What an example!\u00a0 Please keep her in all her ways.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the start of this new day we pause to confess to ourselves that this is the day the Lord hath made\u2013and to determine that we shall rejoice and be glad in it.\u00a0 We thank Thee that Thy mercies are new every morning, that Thy grace is sufficient for all our need.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the start of this great convention, we thank You for bringing these friends to our city. We pray for their meeting. Bless them.\u00a0 May their business be done well, the fellowship of old friends and new be good, and their leisure time be spent profitably.\u00a0 May we all be faithful to the God we worship, the people we love, and the convictions we hold dear.<\/em><\/p>\n

We are surrounded by those who have dedicated their lives to serving others, to being part of the answer to this world and not another of its problems.\u00a0 We pray you to keep our focus true\u2013that we may always love people and use things, and avoid the trap of loving things and using people.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, may we trust in Thee with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways we would acknowledge Thee and thus be directed in all our paths.<\/em><\/p>\n

In that matchless name which is above all other names we pray. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay.\u00a0 Now, let’s analyze that\u2026<\/p>\n

One<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is good discipline for the typical preacher who tends to improvise when praying, whether in private or in public.\u00a0 Forcing us to think about what to pray and how best to phrase it is a good thing.<\/p>\n

What if we gave advance thought to our Sunday prayers?\u00a0 Many pastors do.<\/p>\n

Two<\/strong>. The scriptures I quoted are from the Old Testament.\u00a0 Someone of another faith altogether might object, but no Christian or Jew will.\u00a0 None of the verses chosen are confrontive or meant to do anything other than to bless, inspire, and uplift.<\/p>\n

Three.<\/strong>\u00a0 I felt it was important \u00a0to pray for this convention, for these visitors to our city, and to keep it real.\u00a0 I think I did.<\/p>\n

Four.<\/strong>\u00a0The closing\u2013\u201cin the matchless Name which is above all other names we pray\u2013spoke to every Christian in the audience.\u00a0 But if anyone objected to it, I never heard.<\/p>\n

Five.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Unless specifically asked to \u201cleave Jesus out of it,\u201d I have no trouble not using His name in the prayer.\u00a0 The Lord\u2019s Prayer doesn\u2019t mention His name.\u00a0 And no prayer that I can think of in the New Testament ends with \u201cIn Jesus\u2019 name we pray.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always glad to do what I can to bless people. And that is all this was.<\/p>\n

It seems to me (in memory) that I received a check for doing this.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

If you receive such an invitation, I would encourage you to accept it and enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sooner or later this happens to every pastor:\u00a0 Some civic (translation: \u2018non-religious\u2018) outfit calls and asks you to lead a prayer at their gathering.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s the city council or state legislature, sometimes it\u2019s a convention or some club\u2019s gathering.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer","category-public-speaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26500"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26503,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26500\/revisions\/26503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}