Prayer And The Continental Congress

PRAYER AND THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

We need to remember Rev. Jacob Duché who, at the first meeting of the Continental Congress in Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia on September 7, 1774, was asked to come and open that session with prayer. "He read from the 35th Psalm and prayed for three hours. John Adams wrote his wife about the significance of this day: 'I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duché, unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an ex-temporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, on one so well pronounced."

(Source: America's Christian Heritage, Paul K. Blair, April 2008)