MORGANTOWN – Gov. Jim Justice and Appalachian Bible College President Dan Anderson led Wednesday’s statewide Day of Prayer service from the Governor’s Reception Room at the Capitol – also the site of his daily COVID-19 press conferences.
It was a virtual service, with various religious leaders and musical performers praying and performing remotely, seeking God’s help during the coronavirus pandemic.
Justice prefaced the service with an update on the Sundale nursing home in Morgantown, where 16 residents and four staff members have tested positive, with, he said, 50 patient tests still pending. Statewide, there were 39 positives and 759 negatives and six tests pending at the time.
“The nursing home in the Morgantown areas continues to really concern us,” he said.
Before turning the service over to Anderson, who served as moderator, Justice said, “’I am a man of prayer and I’m proud of it.” We have unlimited blessings but also struggles. “Today we are facing a monumental struggle.” And the only way to face and combat the disease is through God.
All but one of the leaders and performers represented various Christian denominations. Rabbi Joe Blair, of Temple Israel in Charleston, led a prayer for the victims of the coronavirus.
The service was peppered with technical glitches and Justice apologized for those, commenting on the difficulty of getting all the remote connections working on short notice.
He closed with this: “God, we’re going to give it all to you, every bit of this to you.”
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