Pastors recall toll of 9-11 during Sunday worship

A Texas pastor urged congregants to let go of their anger over the terrorist attacks and "live with mercy." The nation's top Mormon official said the devastation was a reminder to cherish life. Several preachers urged Americans to pray for the nation as the war continued.

Roman Catholic Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, speaking to students and families at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, noted the victims were from many economic, social and religious backgrounds.

"They were American. They were you and me and all of us, and our hearts were profoundly troubled by what happened on that day," Keeler said.

At Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, a 22,000-member Southern Baptist Convention congregation, pastor David McKinley urged worshippers to overcome their bitterness "to do justly, to live with mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

He also asked them to pray for America's leaders and show support for police, firefighters and other emergency workers whom he called "real heroes."

"You can stand up and prove we are a nation under God," McKinley said.

The Madison, Tenn., Church of Christ posted a sign that read "Honor Our Heroes" and draped a giant U.S. flag behind the pulpit. The more than 1,000 worshippers sang "God Bless America," and Nashville Police Sgt. Terry Ashley, wearing his uniform, led the congregation in prayer.

"For our country, Lord, we ask you to surround us with your angels, to protect us and keep us safe from those who would wish to see us fall," he said. "Build us up and keep us strong in those Christian principles that made us a great nation."

Theresa McDermott, who attended services at the Holy Family Church in Chicago, said she hoped Americans would think about a peaceful response to terrorism while remembering the attacks.

"We have to be reconcilers and think how can we do away with some of this hatred," she said.

In Utah, Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, released a statement in advance of Mormon memorial events scheduled for Wednesday. He said the United States remained "shocked and dismayed at the infamy of the cowardly attacks," but continued to respond with great resolve.

"From the smoke and ashes of New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania has arisen a greater sense of unity and purpose in ridding the earth of evil and providing for the freedom and security of all people," Hinckley said. "Occasions of this kind pull us up sharply to a realization that life is fragile, peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile."

At St. Maron Church in Detroit, an Eastern-rite Lebanese Catholic congregation, small American flags stood in vases filled with red and white flowers near the altar. Worshippers recited hymns in Arabic and English and said a prayer for victims and for global unity.

"Somehow we have to learn to live together," Bishop Walter J. Schoenherr said.

President George E. Bush had called for "National Days of Prayer and Remembrance," asking all Americans to gather in their places of worship over the weekend to honor the dead and pray for world peace.

The president set the three days to fit the worship rhythms of the three major faiths. The Muslim holy day was Friday, the Jewish Sabbath ran through sundown Saturday and Christians worshipped on Sunday.

For Jews, the Sabbath this week coincided with the start of Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year - and many rabbis recited special prayers for the attacks' victims, the United States and Israel.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Southern Baptists suggested prayers and hymns for worshippers this weekend.

U.S. Muslims held memorial events around the country from vigils to mosque open houses. Muslims from several northern New Jersey mosques gathered Saturday in Newark to honor victims and appeal for harmony in their memory.

The Rev. George C. Woodruff of the First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in San Francisco, said the attacks could bring good along with suffering, by helping Americans overcome their differences.

"Tragedy seems to give us a common denominator," Woodruff said. "When one hurts we all hurt. When they attacked New York, when they attacked Pennsylvania, when they attacked Washington D.C., they attacked us all."

Uploaded September 9, 2002