Edwards gathers for National Prayer Breakfast

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Hernandez
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Edwards community gathered at Club Muroc for the 2007 National Prayer Breakfast on March 28. 

Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Cecil Richardson, Air Force Deputy Chief of Chaplains, provided his thoughts on the importance of prayer to those in attendance. 

The National Prayer Breakfast originated 50 to 60 years ago with a small group in Congress praying for the president, Chaplain Richardson said. These gatherings were later called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. 

People then recognized that these events needed to be done on a broader scale as it is important for people as a nation to pray, he said. 

It became a time to pray for the nation, president, elected officials, military leaders and each other. 

Chaplain (Capt.) Christopher Conklin, with the 95th Air Base Wing, said prayer breakfast events across the nation help to increase spiritual readiness to better serve the country, families and friends.

"The National Prayer Breakfast is an opportunity for Americans, celebrating our religious freedom, to come together and pray for our country, our military servicemembers and our nations' leaders," Chaplain Conklin said. "Spiritual wellness is a key strength that enables us to live faithfully to the promises we have made in our families, our military vocation and all aspects of our lives." 

People can be a little fearful of talking about religion, Chaplain Richardson said.
"We think it's a topic that should be off the table," he said. "However, our nation is neutral considering religions, which means we don't sponsor one religion over another. We aren't a Catholic nation, a Baptist nation or a Buddhist nation." 

Although we have no state religion, the United States is not neutral concerning God, the chaplain said. 

"Our national motto is 'In God We Trust,'" Chaplain Richardson said. "The people who crossed the ocean and founded America came here for the freedom to practice their religion and the freedom to worship God. Our relationship with God and our freedom to worship is at the very heart of what it means to be an American. The purpose of our military is to defend the Constitution and the first freedom of the constitution, the freedom to worship. The national prayer breakfast is a way of expressing our rights and privilege as Americans to exercise our faith." 

This visit was one of many Chaplain Richardson has made to Edwards, but this was the first National Prayer Breakfast he attended here. 

Chaplain Richardson's ability to connect with Airmen may result from the fact that he began his own Air Force career attending basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. 

"I've found that communities around more isolated bases are stronger," he said. "People tend to get to know each other better. The mission here is absolutely amazing. I look at what people do here and just marvel. I look at the Airmen and feel so proud of them. The types of things that go on here and the people here are special. I even like the rabbits."