Group to gather for informal prayer service

In the two years that people have been gathering on the first Tuesday of the month for prayer, the group has met in nearly every church in Cape Girardeau.

Today the First Tuesday Noon Worship group will meet at noon at the Cape Girardeau schools office, 301 N. Clark. Future meetings are being scheduled on the Southeast Missouri State University campus and possibly at a veteran's hall.

The informal prayer service today will give people a chance to pray specifically for the children and staff at the city's schools and for their safety, said Sherri Mehner, event organizer.

Having a location that represents the prayer requests helps keep people focused, she said

The topics for the guided prayer are usually chosen by the location host.

But usually prayers for the nation are also included. "People just feel burdened to do that," Mehner said.

When the group prayed in January at the Cape Girardeau Public Library it was praying for the city and its leaders. When the group met last month at the Young Life office, the prayers were for youth and their leaders.

Today's service is the first time the group has prayed at a school, though there have been other services on campus.

The First Tuesday Noon Worship service began as an offshoot of the National Day of Prayer events, a service held on the first Thursday in May. "We wanted to prayer more regularly than that," Mehner said, so the once-a-month schedule was adopted. About 30 people regularly attend the service.