This well-researched anthology looks at American history through the prayers its people have offered over the past two-and-a-half centuries. Prayers are drawn from a wide variety of faiths, including Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
An American Prayer Book includes prayers for our country, prayers for American festivals, and prayers from our history. Authors of the prayers include Woodrow Wilson, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the first Muslim to offer a prayer in the United States Senate. The prayers reflect such aspects of American history as the abolition of slavery, the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy, the bombing of Hiroshima, child labor, immigration, and the Gulf Wars. Prayer has always been central to American life but this book may be the first systematic attempt to make these prayers available.
Ecumenical and inter-faith, this is an important resource for clergy and a useful book for all those who believe in the importance of asking God's guidance in our national life.
Sections include:
Prayers for America: for an Election, for the Government, in Times of War or Crisis, for Repentance and Renewal, for Peace, Thanksgivings and Litanies
Prayers for national occasions: Inauguration Day, Presidential birthdays, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Election Day, Thanksgiving Day, and others
Prayers from American history: Prayers said on historic occasions such as Washington’s funeral, the American Revolution, the death of George Washington, the slave trade and abolition, the Civil War, the death of Abraham Lincoln, the Industrial Revolution, the Spanish-American War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Clinton impeachment crisis, the 9/11 attack, and more.