A crowd of about 100 people bore unseasonably cold temperatures Monday morning to pray together for their county and its leaders at the Chilton County Courthouse.

Pastors and congregation members from local churches, along with elected officials and residents, joined leaders from the Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions for the prayer rally, which was part of a new statewide event called Praying Across Alabama.

Dr. Rick Lance, executive director of Alabama State Board of Missions, coordinated Chilton County’s prayer rally with Dr. Larry Felkins, the Chilton Baptist Association’s director of missions.

Felkins said Praying Across Alabama was Lance’s inspiration and a way of “seeking God through prayer for revival and spiritual awakening” across the state, as the event’s description indicates.

Praying Across Alabama started on Feb. 24 and is being held at courthouses all over the state through April 7.

“We’re not praying against anything. We’re not protesting anything,” Felkins said. “(We are) just calling people to prayer. It’s not political.”

Felkins and Lance spoke to the gathering and led them in prayer, as did pastors from area churches.

State Missionary Eileen Mitchell of the Alabama State Board of Missions sang twice during the program.

Lance challenged attendees to uphold four prayer requests: to pray for public servants, or people in authority positions locally and nationally; to pray for people who do not know God and are not saved; to pray for service opportunities; and to pray for themselves.

“What I’m talking about is doing a spiritual audit of our own lives,” Lance said. “People need the Lord now more than ever before. The priority is prayer.”

For more information about Praying Across Alabama, visit Alsbom.org.