Southeast Texans are invited and encouraged to attend and pray for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday. It will be celebrated across the Mid-County and the Golden Triangle.

National Day of Prayer will be celebrated in Port Neches at noon at the City of Port Neches flagpole at City Hall on 1055 Merriman.

“We’ll have representatives from most of the churches along with laymen who will voice a prayer for seven things specifically,” Tracy Cutrer, pastor ministry assistant for First Baptist Church Port Neches, said.

These seven areas of focus will be seven spheres as according to the National Day of Prayer Task Force: church, family and marriages, education, business, government, media, and arts and entertainment.

“We’ll close with ‘Amazing Grace,’ which is something we all need,” Cutrer said.

“We usually do the particular prayers in different emphasis with a pastor or layperson.”

Cutrer said Ruth Graham, one of the leaders of the task force, would be speaking at the event.

This will be the second year the event has been held at the flagpole, where Cutrer estimated 60 people turned out for prayer.

“Everyone is encouraged to attend. It’s a nationally known thing,” Cutrer said.

The national event was created in 1952 and passed by a joint resolution of the United States Congress before being signed into law by President Harry Truman.

Cutrer explained that the Port Neches celebration was first held at First Baptist Church, then moved to Port Neches-Groves High School before being held in front of City Hall.

“With a prayer gathering outside, there’s a little more openness to it,” Cutrer said. “People of faith and people of God can be reminded that we can be a community and that not only do we need God, but we need God in our nation.”

The Nederland National Day of Prayer ceremony will be held at City Hall on 207 N. 12^th St. at 7:30 a.m.

“We invite church leaders in the community to speak,” city manager Chris Duque said in email. “The mayor gives a general welcome and then hands it over. We provide refreshments afterwards. All faiths are welcome.”

Duque estimated that 50 people attend on average.

National Day of Prayer will be held in Port Arthur at the flagpole in front of City Hall on 444 4^th St. at 7:30 a.m.

“We are going to meet at the Bridge City (Park) Pavilion at 11:30,” Melissa Isaacs with the Bridge City/Orangefield Ministerial Alliance said. “And we’ll pray for about an hour. Pastors and local community leaders are encouraged to attend.”

The Pavilion is located on 101 Parkside Drive.

The Alliance hosts it every year and, according to Isaacs’ estimation, last year’s prayer event attracted 50-60 people to come out and pray.

“We open with the Pledge of Allegiance. The pastor welcomes everybody, and we’ll start off in prayer,” Isaacs said. “Everyone just takes turns praying the whole time.”

Isaacs encouraged everyone to turn up, regardless of faith or creed.

“We have a combination of all faiths — Catholic, Protestant, Methodist. It’s not just one; it’s everybody who believes in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”