Local government officials and community leaders will meet in Cumming this week to observe the annual National Day of Prayer celebration.

According to a news release from the Forsyth County government, the event will take place a 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, outside the Forsyth County Courthouse Annex in downtown Cumming.

Speakers at the event will include Forsyth County Sheriff’s Detective Drue Green, who recently received a life-saving liver transplant, CASA of Forsyth County Executive Director Paula Wood Malmfeldt, Rabbi Levi Mentz of Chabad of Forsyth and community leader Nazeera Dawood.

Jamie Archer of Cumming Baptist will give the special prayer for the National Day of Prayer, according to the release.

National Day of Prayer was first established by the Continental Congress in 1775, the release states, and in 1952 the United States Congress approved a Joint Resolution setting aside a day each year to, “recognize the tradition of prayer.”

“The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans and is not sponsored or owned by any one group, and every American may observe the Day of Prayer in his or her own way,” the release stated.

In a statement to the Forsyth County News, District 4 Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills said that they welcome the community to come out and attend the event.

“I think this event is a wonderful way to bring our community together, to reflect and be grateful for the blessings we’ve been given and to ask God for His guidance for the future of our city, county, state and country,” Mills said.