``It is particularly important,'' Thompson said, ``in light of recent events here and abroad, that we should give thanks for our religious freedoms and for divine guidance in these difficult times.''
The Chester County commissioners, along with a number of judges, political leaders and representatives of county religious and civic organizations, will attend the breakfast hosted by Thompson and District Justices Thomas Martin and Peter Winther at 7:30 a.m. at J&J Caterers, 880 Springdale Dr.
The principal speaker will be Robert L. Vernon, retired assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and director of the Pointman Leadership Institute, which offers training in ``ethical leadership'' to law enforcement organizations.
Tickets at the door are $17. The public is welcome.
Other area events today include:
* Representatives of 25 churches and other organizations in Chester and Delaware Counties will participate in an evening of sacred music, readings and prayer at Proclamation Presbyterian Church, 278 Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The speaker will be the Rev. William S. Barker, vice president and professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary, Glenside.
* Churches in the Coatesville area have been invited to a prayer service and a viewing of the TV program Highlighting Christianity at the New Life in Christ Fellowship Church, Fifth Avenue and Lincoln Highway, Coatesville, at 7 p.m.
* The Malvern Ministerium is sponsoring a prayer service at noon at Malvern Memorial Park on Warren Avenue. Six area churches will be participating. Hymns and prayers will follow the reading of the National Day of Prayer proclamations from the Borough of Malvern, the state and the Congress.
* Churches in the Downingtown area will observe the day at noon at Hopewell United Methodist Church. The service, which will be held in the Bower Chapel at the church, 852 Hopewell Rd., Downingtown, will be attended by Mayor Linda Baugher and representatives of Downingtown civic and veterans' groups.
* Members of West Chester-area churches, along with Mayor Clifford E. DeBaptiste and members of the Borough Council, will attend a prayer breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at West Chester United Methodist Church, 129 S. High St.
* The chapel of the Living Faith Outreach Centre, 910 S. High St., West Chester, will be open for prayer from 6:30 to 8 a.m. and again from noon to 8 p.m.
