State Prayer Caucus Director to Speak Wed. Morning

A men's prayer group will have a special guest on Wednesday from the state Capitol.

Mike Corder is the Director of the Kentucky Prayer Caucus, and he will share information with those who gather at Pizza Inn on Joe Clifton Drive in Paducah. They will also be praying for elected officials in our area - something the non-denominational prayer group has done for years.

Corder is an electrical engineer from Madison County, and he has a passion for prayer that led him to be involved with the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, which keeps people informed about issues in legislature and government so they can pray about them.

Corder will be passing along information about the Prayer Caucus and its work, so local people can get involved.

The CPCF was founded in 2005 by U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes from Virginia, and now meets regularly in the Capitol building. In 2012, Kentucky formed its own prayer caucus in the state legislature.

Corder said, "We needed to come together, and establish a group within the legislators who would join together in prayer, recognize God, humble themselves, and seek His counsel on wise ways to legislate."

Corder works on the citizen's side of things, teaming with Minority Leader Rep. Jeff Hoover of Jamestown, who is Chairman of the KY Legislative Prayer Caucus. That network of national, state, and local leaders works to protect everyone's right to be a nation that prays, and trusts in God.

Corder said debate on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, along with some other issues, led Hoover to do this.

"Rep. Hoover really had the vision to establish some level of greater spirituality, bringing colleagues together, considering religious liberty issues of many different kinds," Corder said.

Corder told "The Greg Dunker Show" last week that the recent decision by the Supreme Court on Hobby Lobby was something to celebrate. He said most people don't want spirituality to be separate from their public life, and many have spoken up about it, in Kentucky and across the country.

"They did that on a national basis in 1993, and in Kentucky, when the Supreme Court in 2012 ruled against some Amish folks because of reflective signs on their buggies, they did so on a basis that was really restrictive of religious liberty, and it created an embarassing confusion. So, the General Assembly finally in 2013 did pass that restoration act, and it's the same kind of act that the Supreme Court used in this case in favor of Hobby Lobby. So this is a very good thing for the people of America to have this kind of religious liberty support."
 
Jim Lewis is part of the group that meets each week at Pizza Inn at 6:15 am. He says anyone is welcome to join them for breakfast pizza, information on the Prayer Caucus Foundation, and prayer for elected officials.