City of Ponca City

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

Proclamation

WHEREAS, the Pilgrims, in the Mayflower Compact (1620), stated their purpose as, “…having undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, …in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civil body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid;…”; and

WHEREAS, on June 21, 1776, John Adams wrote, “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand”; and

WHEREAS, our Declaration of Independence declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness;” and

WHEREAS, on June 28, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin, quoting from Psalm 127:1, warned “We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it’.”; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States of America, in Article I Section 7, recognizes Sunday as a day of rest and worship; and is dated “the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven”, thus measuring time from the birth of Jesus Christ (Anno Domini); and

WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson, while President of the United States, was also made president of the school board for Washington, D.C. public schools and authored its original plan of education in which he placed the Bible and Watt’s Hymnal as two primary reading texts; and

WHEREAS, Thanksgiving week is an appropriate time to center attention on thanks to Almighty God for the “Blessings of Liberty”, to ask His help in reinsuring “domestic Tranquility”, and to recognize our national need to reaffirm our “reliance on the protection of divine Providence” in keeping America a free and independent Nation;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Marilyn Andrews, Mayor of the City of Ponca City, Oklahoma do hereby proclaim November 23, 1997, through November 29, 1997, as

“CHRISTIAN HERITAGE WEEK”

And call upon the people of Ponca City and all interested churches, patriotic organization, and schools to observe such a week with appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs.

 In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand

and caused the Great Seal of the City of Ponca City

to be affixed this 23^rdday of November, 1997.

Marilyn Andrews