ABCNJ was represented on Thursday, May 3 at the 2012 National Day of Prayer Service at the New Jersey State House.

Russell Stammer, Associate Pastor at Ramapo Valley Baptist Church was invited by the Council on the American Family and the Trenton Area Clergy to be one of the prayer leaders representing the state’s emergency service workers at the 2012 National Day of Prayer service, at the State House steps in Trenton, NJ.

The National Day of Prayer has been a vital part of American heritage since the first call to prayer in 1775 by the Continental Congress when the colonies were asked to pray for wisdom in forming a nation. President Lincoln later proclaimed a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution was passed by Congress and signed by President Harry S. Truman, declaring an annual, national day of prayer, and in 1988, President Reagan permanently set the day as the first Thursday in May each year.

The president and the governor of each state sign a proclamation annually, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors and the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.

The theme of the 61st annual National Day of Prayer was " One Nation Under God” Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”– the parallel truth to 2 Chronicles 7:14. The goal of that day was that our spiritual leaders would call to prayer and action people of faith to once again be salt and light in their culture.