National prayer day is almost here; Shirley Dobson's White House invite isn't
The Colorado Springs-based National Day of Prayer Task Force had a friend in the White House. Every year, from 2001 to 2008, the Bush administration would invite members of the evangelical Christian organization to the White House to take part in a formal observance of the May 7 event.
But things are different in Washington now. This year, the task force - headed by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson - has not yet been invited to take part.
What's more, advocacy groups for inclusive dialogue on faith in America are trying to break what they perceive as the organization's monopoly on the event. Interfaith Alliance and Jews on First sent a letter this month to President Barack Obama asking him to declare that the National Day of Prayer is for Americans of all faiths - and even for nonbelievers.
White House officials have not said whether the Obama administration will formally honor the prayer day. Joshua DuBois, executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, did not respond Wednesday to several e-mails from The Gazette, and the Dobsons could not be reached for comment.
Even if the event goes on, it's looking less and less likely that Shirley Dobson and other task force officials will get a place of honor as they did under George W. Bush. And that's just fine with some of the group's critics, who say it played too great of a role in the National Day of Prayer, which was created in 1952 by an act of Congress.
Jay Keller, national field director of Interfaith Alliance, said the National Day of Prayer Task Force has become so well-known that most people think it is the official coordinator of the National Day of Prayer.
"Their activities over the last eight years have overwhelmed the possibility of other organizations doing anything on this day," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
But Becky Armstrong, marketing and media manager of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, said it has never pretended to be the overarching organizer. It was founded in 1983 to coordinate Judeo-Christian expressions of the annual observance.
"The Task Force has chosen to conduct events that reflect its Judeo-Christian perspective on prayer," Armstrong said.
Keller and Lynn said, however, that the string of invitations from the Bush administration, bolstered by photos of the Dobsons with Bush, gave the distinct impression that prayer day was for evangelical Christians only.
Armstrong attended the White House event in 2007 and said it was more broad-based than that.
The perception that the task force and the National Day of Prayer are one may have arisen because of the group's commitment, Armstrong said.
"We are well-organized, with thousands of coordinators who plan events attended by millions of people," she said.
Local events for the May 7 National Day of Prayer
• Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Contact: 531-3379
• Pikes Peak Christian Church, 4955 Bradley Road, 7-8:30 p.m. 392-9061
• Vista Grande Baptist Church, 5680 Stetson Hills Road, 6-6:45 a.m. 266-1089
• Colorado Springs Prayer at City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave., noon-1 p.m. 527-0603
• New Life Church, 11025 Voyager Parkway at Interquest Parkway, 7-8:30 p.m. 591-8800
National Day of Prayer Task Force
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