State and local government leaders participated in a National Day of Prayer event on the state Capitol grounds yesterday that attracted a diverse crowd of about 100.

But some critics said the annual observance should be more inclusive, pointing out that only Christians spoke during the program. About six weeks ago, a group called Jews on First started an online campaign seeking to broaden the event, which it says limits participation to fundamentalist Christian evangelicals.

"It's great people want to pray for the country," said Don Fruhwald, president of the Central Virginia/Greater Richmond Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "But it should be a voluntary endeavor that the government stays out of."

Fruhwald attended yesterday's event in Richmond. He and several others spoke about their concerns before the program started.

The National Day of Prayer and Meditation was signed into law in 1952 by President Harry S. Truman and assigned the first Thursday in May by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. The National Day of Prayer Task Force is headed by Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. Although the task force is a private group, its observances have received unofficial government approval through proclamations by President Bush and ceremonies held at the White House and in Congress.

In Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine issued a proclamation rec-ognizing the event.

That the task force requires applicants interested in serving as local coordinators to confirm their commitment to Christ makes sense, said Glen Lutz, Virginia coordinator for the National Day of Prayer.

"We are the Christian emphasis for the National Day of Prayer," said Lutz, a Baptist minister who lives in Richmond. "It doesn't mean that other groups couldn't organize their own event."

The coordinators and speakers for the events must be in sync, he said. "The leadership must know the Lord, or else how can we pray in Jesus' name?"

Speakers during the hour-long program at the state Capitol included House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson. The Richmond Police Choir sang several selections.

Howell said he had no comment about whether the observance excluded leaders and clergy from Jewish, Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist communities or other faiths.

"Many people don't know how discriminatory this day is," said Rabbi Haim Beliak of Jews on First, which initiated the Web site www.inclusiveprayerday.org. The group's campaign urged people to request that governors issue inclusive proclamations about the observance.

"When I talk to my colleagues, some say they're told these events were only for Christians," Beliak said by phone from Los Angeles.

"The National Day of Prayer and Meditation was intended, as any official government action must be, for people of all religious traditions or none," said Douglas A. Hicks, associate professor of leadership studies and religion at the University of Richmond.

"The National Day of Prayer Task Force, which is actually a nongovernmental organization, runs events around the country as if it were the official organizer of the day of prayer," he said. To be a part of the organization, a person must be a Christian willing to sign on to "biblical inerrancy and a particular theological creed."

"Many well-intentioned public officials, including in Richmond, sign on to participate in these public celebrations without knowing that the sponsoring organization excludes many Christians and all non-Christians," Hicks said.

Kaine's proclamation reads, "Prayer plays a powerful role in the lives of people of all cultures, religions and backgrounds." It also quotes the task force's theme of "Prayer! America's Strength and Shield," noting it "comes from the scripture Psalm 28:7, which says, 'The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.'"

That displeases Imad Damaj, president of the Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs.

"I'm surprised he quoted the task force's theme," Damaj said of Kaine. "He lives his faith in a way that unites people and doesn't divide people. This task force is clearly a very divisive task force. It doesn't want to unite all Americans of different faiths."

After the program at the state Capitol, Harriet H. Roberson, an on-air personality at WFTH radio, said it was her first time attending the event. As to the controversy, "We have to start somewhere. Anything that will help us with so much evil in the world is needed."
Contact Robin Farmer at (804) 649-6312 or rfarmer@timesdispatch.com.