Staff Writer

The country's National Day of Prayer has been hijacked by Christian evangelicals who pervert the event for sectarian purposes, according to an interfaith task force comprised of Christians and Jews.

To prevent that from occurring during this year's May 7 celebration, the Interfaith Alliance and Jews on First, a First Amendment defense group, last week sent a letter to President Barack Obama demanding that he issue a presidential proclamation to help open the event to "believers of all religions, as well as those who profess no religion," according to the group's letter.

The coalition claims that "several years ago, the National Day of Prayer was taken over by a group of religious exclusivists led by Shirley Dobson of Focus on the Family," according to the group's letter.

That group, the National Day of Prayer Task Force, funded and run by Dobson, has "totally co-opted" the holiday, Rev. Welton Gaddy, the president of the Interfaith Alliance, said in an interview.

Because the task force labels its Web site as the "official" National Day of Prayer domain, Gaddy believes that it creates a false impression that its celebrations are nationally sponsored and government-endorsed.

Established by President Harry Truman in 1952, the National Day of Prayer takes place on the first Thursday in May and asks that all Americans join in prayer or meditate in their own way.

Beginning in 2001, the evangelical Task Force gained national prominence as former President George W. Bush's go-to group for the holiday. Both Dobson and her husband, James, who founded Focus on the Family, have been invited to exclusive White House events and seated close to the Bush family.

Moreover, says Jews on First's Hunter, the task force could be violating the separation of church and state by requiring coordinators of its events -- for which local and federal officials often issue proclamations -- to sign a "statement of belief" that includes language such as, "I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles."

"This clearly aligns a government-sponsored event with a particular Christian denomination," the group writes in its letter to Obama.

Yet, the Task Force, a registered tax-exempt, nonprofit group, denies that it intentionally misleads government officials and celebrants, and says the statement of belief is merely an effort to be transparent.

While "governors from many states, countless mayors and local officials are often invited to participate in events" organized by the task force, Brian Toon, the group's vice chair, said in an e-mail statement via the group's communication's manager. that the group does not "claim to be the official government sanctioned organizers" for the holiday.

Regarding the statement of belief, Toon said it is a way to ensure that those involved are aware of the group's religious orientation. "We have a statement so it is obvious to potential volunteer coordinators who we are; so there are no misconceptions as to whom they are aligning themselves with," Toon said.

The Task Force, he added, "has chosen to conduct events that reflect its Judeo-Christian perspective on prayer," but "we don't exclude [other faiths] from attending, nor do we discourage other faiths from holding their own events on this day."

The White House did not respond to an inquiry by press time on Tuesday.