From Christianity Today, 07/02/02:
Twelve days after the September 11 attacks, David Benke followed Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu clerics to the podium of a Yankee Stadium event to honor the missing and the dead. Benke asked attendees to join hands and pray with him "on this field of dreams turned into God's house of prayer." He prayed "in the precious name of Jesus" and sat down. That prayer has led to Benke's suspension from the clergy roster of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). It has also exposed deep divisions in the church.
Arguments I remember for this event at the time ranged from "we were overcome by events" to viewing it as an effective form of evangelism. Pr. Benke intentionally entered an arena with non-Christians and then asked them to close their eyes as he said an authentically Christian prayer.
Q: Do any events in the Bible, early church fathers, tent revivalists, or Billy Graham , have essentially the same features? Specifically, initiating a prayer with someone who is (not yet, not necessarily intending to become) a Christian? Perhaps the evangelism of the Apostles in either Jewish temples or public square? Did Billy Graham ever ask for public prayer at the beginning of a Crusade, before an altar call?