By Chris Basinger, Staff Writer
IRONDALE, Ala.–Irondale held its 4th Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast at the Church of the Highlands Grants Mill Campus Thursday morning, which featured a keynote conversation between Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. and former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.
The seven-time national championship winning coach spoke to the over 400 attendees about the role his faith played throughout his coaching career and his transition from being a transactional leader who only cared about winning to a transformational leader who cared about motivating his players and setting a good example.
Father Leonard Mary prays for families. Chris Basinger/Trussville Tribune
“How do you affect other people? How do you serve other people? In fact, I asked the question a lot to the players, how do you pray? Do you pray to be blessed or do you pray to be a blessing,” Saban said.
“This change in leadership style was probably the number one thing that impacted me and allowed me to affect the people in our organizations in a much more positive way.”
The two also discussed this year’s scripture theme taken from Matthew 5:14, “Be the Light. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill that cannot be hidden.”
“I think church, faith is so important to moral development, to doing the right thing, so if it wasn’t for my faith, I’m not sure that I could stand up for some of the things we’ve stood up for through the years,” Saban said.
“My faith has helped me always have the courage and the confidence to be able to tell people this is the right thing to do and not really care so much about what they think of me for telling them to do what’s in their best interest, how that can impact them in a more positive way, even when they were ready to make a decision that may have a negative impact on their future.”
Irondale students accept scholarships from the Irondale Community Foundation. Chris Basinger/Trussville Tribune
Earlier, Saban, whose business venture Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham is headquartered in Irondale, also talked about the partnership he had with the city to make that possible, saying it has been good for Irondale.
Mayor Stewart said, “We’re glad to have Coach here today because this is not only an opportunity for him to come and to see what we’re doing in the city of Irondale but it also gives us the time to be able to pray for our city, pray for our state, pray for our country.”
When speaking to The Tribune, Saban discussed his desire to give more inspirational talks at community events like the prayer breakfast now that he has retired from coaching.
“I probably have done something somewhere every day of this week, so I want to stay involved in the community. I want to try to have a positive influence in people, you know, what they can do attitudinally to improve the quality of their life,” Saban said.
“Just being a good person and having compassion for other people and helping other people, and that’s something that we tried to do for all these years, you know, with our players is hopefully they have a better quality of life and a better chance to be successful because they were involved in the program, so continuing to be able to do that and have time to do is something, you know, we look forward to.”
Kim Scott performs during the prayer breakfast. Chris Basinger/Trussville Tribune
Before the keynote conversation, local pastors offered prayers for the eight centers of influence–families, the military, the government, the church, education, the media, children, and businesses–in celebration of National Day of Prayer.
Those local pastors included Father Leonard Mary of EWTN, Pastor James Fields of St. James United Methodist Church, City Councilor and Pastor John London of Mason Chapel United Methodist Church, Pastor Mark Machen of Life of Faith Church, Pastor Blake Lindsey of Church of the Highlands, Pastor Jason Hooper of King’s Way Church, Pastor Mike McClure Sr. of Revelation Church Ministries, who also serves as the City of Irondale Chaplain, and Bishop George Whitlock, III of The Vine Church.
Mayor Stewart and the Irondale Community Foundation also presented $1,000 Building Community Scholarships to 10 Irondale students.
They included Kennedy Allen, Jaylon Coleman, Micaiah Freeman, Kyla Franklin, Kennedi Robinson, and Janaya Sanders of Shades Valley High School, Emily Keith of Jefferson Christian Academy, Clayton Mattson and Jaden Scott of JCIB Irondale, and Parker Lynn Stanfill of Highlands College.
Throughout the event, Kim Scott, a chart-topping jazz flutist, also performed musical selections on stage.
