By Hannah Curran, Editor
IRONDALE — Irondale’s Second Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast hosted by Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. was a huge success on Thursday, May 5.
The event took place at the Church of the Highlands, located at 4700 Highlands Way, and media personality JehJeh Pruitt served as the keynote speaker.
Steward said the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast has grown since the first year, with over 300 attendees this year, and he hopes that it will continue to grow in the future.
“I want you all to leave here better than when you came in,” Stewart said. “I would say prayer is the most important thing, to help us to be able to move the city forward. A city that is built with prayer is the foundation of being able to move forward.”
Stewart said that there are 168 hours in a week, and he challenged each person in attendance to pick an hour during the week to pray for Irondale and its growth.
“My desire is that those individuals will step up and that the city with constantly be bathed in prayer,” Stewart said.
The breakfast was held in honor of National Prayer day. Seven people prayed for the “Seven Centers of Influence.”
- Pastor Mike McClure Sr. from Revelation Church Ministries prayed for Family;
- Mayor Stewart prayed for Miliary;
- Pastor James Fields from St. James UMC prayed for Government;
- Pastor Blake Lindsey from the Church of the Highlands prayed for Church;
- Pastor Mark Machen from Brookview Wesleyan Church prayed for Education;
- Father Mitch Pacwa from EWTN prayed for Media; and
- Pastor Jim Lowe, Jr. from Guiding Light Church prayed for Business.
Those in attendance enjoyed prayer, musical entertainment, faith-based fellowship, and a delicious breakfast.
Pruitt shared his experiences through the non-profit he started in honor of his brother called the Dannon Project. He also shared a story about an anthropologist who was studying the habits and customs of an African tribe, and the anthropologist told the children of this tribe that they were going to play a game.
The anthropologist put a basket of treats under a tree and drew a line on the ground. Pruitt said the anthropologist called all the children over and told them whoever got to the basket first got to keep all the treats for themselves. So the children lined up behind the line, and when the anthropologist said go, he was shocked at what the children did.
“Every one of the kids grabbed each other by the hand and slowly walked and skipped all the way down to the basket, picked up the basket, and shared the basket equally among each other,” Pruitt said.
When the anthropologist asked one of the children why they did that, their response was “Ubuntu.”
Pruitt said his challenge to everyone is “Ubuntu,” which he said is the essence of being human.
“How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad,” Pruitt said. “I am who I am because of who we are.”
Stewart also presented three “Building Community” Scholarships from the Irdonale Community Foundation to Irondale seniors. Those seniors were Jake Culberson, Genesis Grant, and Salome Montague.
State House Representative Neil Rafferty of District 54 presented a check for $5,000 to the Irondale Community Foundation. A significant portion of Irondale became part of District 54, and when Rafferty asked Stewart what he could do to help Irondale, he told Rafferty about the Irondale Community Foundation.
“The Irondale Community Foundation, building community through encouraging volunteerism, encouraging service, not just for recognition, or for credit, but do it for the love of our fellow man,” Rafferty said. “Through that action, you develop character, integrity, honesty, values, and ethics, things that will carry you through to leadership.”