Prayers of Thanks for Jamestown Offered to Jesus Christ at 1857 Jubilee Celebration
February 21, 2007
At the opening of the Jamestown 250th, Rev. George T. Wilmer offered this dedication prayer just prior to the formal introduction of the former 10th President of the United States, John Tyler.
“Almighty God, Creator and Governor of all things visible and invisible, we beseech Thee graciously to hear us who are now assembled in Thy name and presence. May Thy spirit preside over the celebration of this day—impress all who are present with a due sense of their obligations unto Thee.
Thou has wonderfully preserved and prospered this people when they were strangers in the land, and but few in numbers, Thou didst help them, and dids’t show, that the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. Now, that they have become a powerful nation, grant them magnanimity equal to the fortitude which they displayed in the days of their weakness. May we ever remember that our forefathers brought here their holy religion, with their political institutions, and planted the vine of the Lord by the side of the pillars of the State. These both have grown together, to remain, as we trust, forever united. Teach us to worship and to serve Thee, not only as the Lord of hosts, but also as the God of our eternal salvation; which we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christm to whom. With Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.”
