Community and church members gather for 12th annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

JACKSON, Tenn. — “God calls His people to pray, and it makes an even bigger impact when all of his people or many of his people gather in one place to come together and pray in love and unity,” said Jereme Smith, president of the Jackson Area Ministerial Association.

Hundreds of people answered that call, filling the Carl Perkins Civic Center for the 12th annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.

The breakfast and group prayer featured the West Jackson Baptist Church praise team, as well as community and church members leading prayers for different issues.

“It’s important that we all come together to pray for those issues, which affect us everyday, our family, our congregations, education, first respondents. So this day is set aside for prayer and for scripture reading,” said Mayor Jerry Gist of Jackson.

This year’s national theme was “Love One Another.”

“It’s a command from Christ, he told his disciples, his followers in John chapter 13, he said ‘love one another just as I have loved you.’ And really the only way we can love anyone is when God’s love is in our hearts, and that’s what we hope to see happen,” Smith said.