"This week the mayor of New York City announced that at the 10th anniversary memorial service at ground zero that there are going to be no prayers," Warren said in church, accompanied by a smattering of boos. "Now, you know what I think about that. So, we are going to have our own nationwide, national prayer day," he said to applause.

Warren said that Saddleback sent two of the church's pastors to New York City to start two churches "in order to take care of the spiritual needs of a very confused and broken city." Lower Manhattan Community Church was originally called Mosaic.

"This will be a nationwide coast-to-coast linkup to have prayer. Of all the times, America needs prayer," Warren said and then rhetorically asked, "Do you think it needs prayer right now?"

"We want to give people an opportunity to process the anniversary from a spiritual perspective," Holladay said. "It wasn't just a national or civic tragedy, it was a spiritual tragedy, and we want to support people as they work through it. 9/11 left a spiritual vacuum behind for many people. We want to fill that vacuum with God's love."