Clergy Plan Ground Zero Public Prayer Service for September 10

With clergy and first-responders not invited to the official 10-year memorial of 9/11, a group that feels it is imperative to have a public prayer witness at Ground Zero has initiated a public prayer service which will meet in front of St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway, at 10:00 a.m. on September 10, and walk over to Ground Zero. According to a Christian Newswire release, the organizers of the prayer service are deeply troubled that Mayor Bloomberg has banned all prayer, public expressions of faith and clergy at the Sunday 9/11 Memorial Service. In correspondence to New York City Police Commissioner Kelly Attorney Brian Chavez-Ochoa states: "We are aware of Mayor Bloomberg's edict that no public prayer will be offered and furthermore, that no clergy will be able to speak at the city's planned event for September 11, 2011 at Ground Zero. Therefore, we are seeking a permit and/or consent to hold a prayer vigil the day before the city's event. I am asking for your intercession in facilitating and expediting the process."