Nancy Lee Cochran, who lives and works Downtown, has rejected the pleas of relatives to flee during the G-20. Instead, she wrote a prayer guide for the economic summit and is sending it to 3,000 area churches.

"Many of my neighbors are fearful and frustrated. I try to remind them that this summit has global implications, particularly for the poor and vulnerable," said Ms. Cochran, whose prayer guide can be ordered by calling 412-281-7400.

"I will not be on the streets as a demonstrator, but I am an advocate. I will be praying passionately for daily bread and forgiveness and loving care for all."

She is among many people of faith who seek to bring prayer to the G-20. Some focus on a general desire for God's will to be done and for Pittsburgh to survive intact. Others have specific goals that they believe God wants to impress on the economic ministers. Leaders range from individuals like Ms. Cochran to Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Most organizers are Christian, though there will be at least two major interfaith gatherings. On Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., St. Paul Catholic Cathedral in Oakland will host a prayer service for Jews, Christians and Muslims, sponsored by Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania and the Religious Leadership Forum of Southwest Pennsylvania.

Also on Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m., people from faiths ranging from Hindu and Christian to Zoroastrian will gather at St. Mary of the Mount Catholic Church, Mount Washington, to erect a "peace pole." They will carry 194 flags down Grandview Avenue and back to the church for a prayer service, said Sister Barbara Finch, a Sister of St. Joseph and one of the organizers.

Plans are in the works for a similar interfaith march Downtown on Sept. 20, but details are not final. Information will be posted at www.g6billion.org.

Religious interest in the G-20 isn't new. Days before April's G-20 in London, Pope Benedict XVI implored the ministers not to take assistance away from the world's poorest to solve the economic crisis.

"Development aid ... has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim," he wrote.

The Catholic Men's Fellowship of Pittsburgh intends to surround the summit in prayer. It already has volunteers taking turns fasting in the 40-day run-up. During the summit, Catholics are asked to join in 40 hours of prayer before the exposed blessed sacrament at St. Paul Seminary, starting at Sept. 24 at 6:30 a.m. and continuing until 10 p.m. Sept. 25. Those who can't attend are asked to spend a "holy hour" of prayer in their own parishes. Volunteers can sign up at www.cmfpitt.org.

Yesterday Bishop Zubik issued a letter urging Catholics to join those efforts. He will celebrate opening Mass for the 40 hours at the seminary.

"The days leading up to the G-20 summit should be days of prayer in every one of our parishes. Our hopes are that the summit leaders will be guided by a true sense of service, a true dedication to peace and a true desire to create a world where poverty can diminish and wealth is shared more generously," he wrote.

The fast started on Aug. 15, said Patrick Molyneaux, a leader of the Catholic Men's Fellowship.

"As we fast it helps us connect with the plight of the poor who are affected by the decisions of the G-20 leadership," he said.

An evangelical group set up a Web site to encourage parallel prayer and fasting by Protestants, with congregations enlisting for two of the 40 hours. A unique feature of www.g20prayer.org is a weekly prayer meeting via conference call before the G-20.

Cynthia Scott, a Sewickley resident who owns a legal staffing business Downtown, is an organizer of that evangelical effort.

"We'll have lots of time to pray, with everything being closed," she said. "This is non-political. It's not that we don't have political views. But we are praying that God's will would be done and that a wisdom would be imparted that is beyond human wisdom."

Gene Tibbs, a staff member of the evangelical Coalition for Christian Outreach at the University of Pittsburgh, wants to show people what to pray for and show that advocacy works. He is coordinator of Drop the Debt, Pitt's affiliate of Jubilee USA, a faith-based effort to cancel the debt of the poorest nations.

The word "jubilee" comes from the Bible, where Leviticus 25 designates every 50th year as a time to forgive debts and free slaves.

"The overarching message for us as Christians, who strongly believe in the moral component of justice, is to hold the G-20 to account for the promises they made in London," Mr. Tibbs said.

For instance, the G-20 urged the International Monetary Fund to sell gold reserves to benefit nations where people were starving. His group will hand out report cards showing how such promises have been kept.

Jubilee USA is sponsoring a speaker from Zambia, Privilage Haangandu, debt program manager with Jubilee Zambia and the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection. Mr. Haangandu will explain how money that might be spent on roads and schools and the development of small businesses and farms goes to pay off ill-gotten debt.

But he will also explain how past promises by the G-20 caused the IMF and World Bank to grant relief that allowed Zambia to drop some fees for public schools.

"That has allowed an additional million children to go to school every day. That is one of the more exciting developments of the last few years in Zambia alone and it's a direct result of the debt campaign," Mr. Tibbs said.

Mr. Haangandu will speak Sept. 21 at the People's Summit, a self-described "informed dialogue" about social justice and the G-20. Details are at www.peoplessummit.com.

Bread for the World, which organizes Christians to press their legislators for hunger relief, will hold a news conference Sept. 23 at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, Downtown.

"The number of hungry people in the world went up from 873 million in 2005 to more than 1 billion in 2009," said Gary Cook director of church relations for Bread for the World.

"It's critical for the G-20 to know that religious people are very concerned about that situation."

The Rev. Ray Almgren, founder of the House of His Presence house of prayer at Shepherd's Heart Fellowship, Uptown, has used a global e-mail network to organize prayer.

"People in Burundi and people in Israel are praying for what's happening in Pittsburgh," he said.

His group organizes "prayer walks" to pray for the G-20 while walking past sites related to it. One of his posts at www.houseofhispresence.com called for such prayer at a park where anarchists held a picnic earlier this month.

"There has been violence in other G-20 cities in the past. ... We want our prayers to be in the opposite spirit. We are not advocating praying 'against' but praying 'for' those with their own agendas. We want to speak peace (shalom) over our city and those who come," he wrote.

At Covenant Church of Pittsburgh in Wilkinsburg, Bishop Joseph Garlington called his mega-church to pray for the G-20. The congregation has spent several days in intensive prayer. Its intercessors -- volunteers who specialize in prayer -- have made it a priority, said the Rev. Cass McCollum, an associate pastor.

"They got together with other intercessors and rented a bus and drove past the venues and prayed," she said.

They're praying for protection for the city and wisdom for the delegates, she said.

"And of course we want everyone that comes to go away with a good feeling about Pittsburgh. We want them to understand that there is something special about Pittsburgh, and a big piece of that is the presence of God."