The Rotary Prayer is a prayer that Rotarians recite at the beginning of every meeting. The prayer was adopted by the Rotary Club of Chicago on July 11, 1917 as part of an effort to improve relations among Rotarians, who were having trouble finding common ground.
The prayer was written by John Harris in 1922, and has become a permanent fixture in meetings worldwide since then.
Members of Rotary International use the prayer to set aside any differences they may have with each other and focus on their common goal: service above self.
We hope you enjoy this timeless piece of literature!
Thanks for visiting this site. This is a blog about Rotary prayer in English. The idea of creating this blog was born from the necessity to promote and share this great prayer.
The Rotary Club of Mykonos Greece, is one of the first clubs that started using Rotary prayer in English in order to create a common language through which all members could pray together regardless of their mother tongue. Since then, it has become a worldwide practice within Rotary Clubs.
Rotary Prayer is a non-denominational prayer composed by Dr. Ralph W. Harris and adopted by Rotary International as the official prayer of the organization and its members.
The words of the prayer are taken from three sources:
1) A poem written by Lillian B. Haywood (USA), entitled “Light In Our Darkness”, published in 1919 in The Rotarian magazine (November issue).
2) A speech made by William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic National Convention on July 9th 1908 at Denver Colorado, USA titled “The Prince of Peace”.
3) A speech made by President John F Kennedy on June 10th 1963 at West Berlin Germany titled “Ich bin ein Berliner”.