Just a few weeks after urging Texans to pray for rain in response to severe drought conditions and wildfires, Gov. Rick Perry announced Monday that he was helping organize a "prayer and fasting" event in Houston and inviting the nation's other governors to attend.
Perry's office confirmed that the governor would participate in The Response, "a non-denominational, apolitical, Christian prayer meeting" at Reliant Stadium on Aug. 6 hosted by the American Family Association.
In an open letter on the event's website, Perry writes, "Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles, and thank Him for the blessings of freedom we so richly enjoy."
Perry also used his power as governor Monday to declare that Aug. 6 would be an official "Day of Prayer and Fasting" in Texas. He urged the nation's other governors to make similar declarations in order to encourage "their constituents to pray that day for unity and righteousness for our states, nation and mankind."
The announcement comes ten days after Perry revealed he is "thinking about" running for president. While Perry's office described the event and the announcement as "apolitical," Perry’s framing of the event as a response to problems with the nation’s current direction is likely to be interpreted by some as a slap at the leadership in Washington, D.C. "...I believe it will take a great amount of prayer, and a renewed commitment to spiritual principles, to get our nation back on track," Perry wrote in the letter to his fellow governors.
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