NORWAY – The annual Oxford Hills area observance of the National Day of Prayer will be held at the historic First Baptist Church of Paris at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 6, at the top of Paris Hill.

This event is always the first Thursday in May, and this is the first time Paris Hill will be host. Many local pastors and others will participate in leading those gathered in prayer for specific things. There will be prayers for education, the police, firefighters, families, local courts, and many other aspects of life in the Oxford Hills. The gathering is at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 6, and all residents of the Oxford Hills are invited.

Previous observances of this day have been held at Hosanna Church, Oxford, Oxford Advent Christian Church, Oxford Hills Assembly of God, Norway Church of the Nazarene, South Paris Baptist Church, and Oxford County Superior Courthouse steps in 1998.

The Paris Hill church is the oldest in this area. Several participating churches can trace roots back to First Baptist. Their building is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites.

There will also be about a dozen other local or county observances of this day throughout Maine; as well as a day-long prayer vigil in Capitol Park in Augusta.

Washington, D.C., will be the site of many nationally known people leading prayers for God’s mercy and guidance for our nation and its leaders and institutions. The National Day of Prayer traces its roots back to Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts where special days were set aside for the purpose of prayer. The Continental Congress during the War of Independence asked for special days of national prayer. Later, President Washington did the same. Many other presidents have followed in his footsteps including President Lincoln during the Civil War. In 1952 Congress set a National Day of Prayer for May of each year, and President Truman signed it into law.