For one group of congressmen, the buck doesn’t stop at the Capitol or the White House: It stops with God.
On March 28, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation Inc., formed in 2005 by Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia, asked Americans to pray for five minutes weekly for the benefit of the United States.
The prayer caucus, made up of 38 lawmakers from both parties, has a new Web site, www.prayercaucus.org, where people can sign up for a five-minute block of time each week to pray for the nation.
The goal — a "call to prayer for America" — is to have Americans praying for their country 24 hours a day, according to the group’s charter.
The prayer caucus members are all Christians — one, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, is senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Mo. — but they urged people of all faiths and political persuasions to join in prayer for the nation, especially during the war in Iraq.
Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said lawmakers should "stick to their constitutional duties and leave religious decisions to individuals." (RNS)
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