Prayer gathering held at courthouse
“We want to remember what happened in our nation on 9/11 and the people who are still fighting terrorism in our nation and around the world,” said Frey, who served as county coordinator for a national prayer movement on Sept. 11 coordinated by Awakening America Alliance. Frey, who is pastor of Mountaintop Faith Ministries in Stahlstown, Westmoreland County, first coordinated the Fayette County prayer gathering in 2008 when she was hosting a crusade in the local area. She returned to coordinate another gathering this year that once again included prayers by local ministers and music from singers, as well as Common Ground Ministries from Broken Arrow, Okla.
Fayette County Commissioners Vincent Zapatosky and Vincent Vicites also addressed the small but attentive crowd that gathered to remember the day when terrorists hijacked four American jetliners to use as weapons, flying two into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., while passengers overcame the highjackers on a fourth airplane before they could reach their destination and instead crashed into a field in nearby Somerset County.
Zapatosky, the commission chairman who formerly worked with U.S. Rep. Frank R. Mascara, D-Charleroi, remembered being about to have breakfast at the Capitol when the terrorist attacks occurred.
“D.C. was like an Alfred Hitchcock film. No one knew where to go,” he said.
Recalling that Congress stood on the Capitol steps that night to sing “God Bless America,” he noted the first thing they did when they met was to pray.
“They asked what they could do but they also asked God for help,” said Zapatosky, who then talked about the importance of prayer in daily life, saying, “We have to rely on ourselves but we also look for spiritual guidance. I do that every morning.”
He said, “Let’s not forget what happened on Sept. 11 and keep a vigil for those who lost their lives. We’re living in the greatest nation in the world and with help from God it will continue to be the greatest nation.”
Vicites remembered being in a commissioners meeting when the attacks occurred. The meeting was adjourned and the commissioners went to the 911 center to deal with the situation. An hour later, Vicites was walking back to the courthouse when he saw a sight that touched him deeply: local veterans had lined the streets of Uniontown with American flags.
“It was such a wonderful show of patriotism and symbolic of how we pulled together as a country,” he said. “That type of mindset has to continue every day.”
Other speakers included the Rev. Randy Winemiller of Poplar Run Church of God of Prophecy near White, who told a story of a soldier who lost a leg when stepping on a landmine during the war. The soldier never complained but worked hard to recover from his injuries and even enjoyed the opportunity to jog at the White House with President George Bush.
Winemiller spoke of soldiers, police officers, firefighters and others, saying, “We honor all of them today and say thank you for your service.”
The Rev. Mark Sholtis of Normalville United Methodist Church noted the compassion of Americans and how the county readily responds to those in need. But he noted faults of society, including greed and changes in standards of morality.
He urged people to examine their lives, and continue to use prayer, commenting, “No one is too insignificant to change the world.”
Other participants included lay speaker David Priemer of the Buchanan Church of God in White; the Rev. Donna Stenger of the Church of God of Prophecy in Oliver, North Union Township; the Rev. Daryl McDavis of Trinity Church of God in Christ in McKeesport; Larry Frey, husband of Margaret Frey, and Trinity Cardine from New Salem.
Margaret Frey ended the gathering by asking people to say the Pledge of Allegiance and also talked about the power of prayer.
She said, “We have to believe it does make a difference.”