The Harts love Lincoln County.

The couple — Gerald and Glenda — love their state and nation as well. That’s what brought them to the Lincoln County Government Complex in the rain Thursday.

They wanted to pray with others who feel the same way.

About 100 people attended the National Day of Prayer service at the county courthouse at noon. Several dozen more gathered outside King’s Daughters Medical Center earlier in the day for prayer as well.

The two events were part of the national service that was expected to draw 2 million people in 30,000 locations around the country, said Steve Jackson with the Lincoln Baptist Association. Jackson offered the welcome at the courthouse event.

The Harts try to come each year.

“We just want to show a connection with everyone,” Glenda Hart said. “We love our country. We know that God is in control.”

Jackson was encouraged by the number of people who filled the courthouse lobby. They circled the stairs, holding hands as they prayed.

“The purpose is pure and simple,” he said. “People of all faiths, gathering to pray for their nation.”

World War II veteran Julius “Peck” Vaughn led the pledge of allegiance.

That was followed by prayers for the government, military, media, businesses, schools, churches and families.

Students from Brookhaven Academy ended the service with the song “This is My Country.”

The prayer service at KDMC started at the radiology outpatient entrance at 7:15 a.m.

The event, hosted by the KDMC prayer committee, featured Dr. Richard Rushing offering the opening prayer and Dr. Joseph White, as the main speaker.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation.

It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.