Ever since Don Atchison has been mayor in Saskatoon we have had a yearly prayer breakfast for him. It has been a tradition in Saskatoon for a long time, but when Jim Maddin was Mayor he got rid of it. I'm glad Don reinstated it.
The problem is that this prayer breakfast is no longer a focus on prayer for the Mayor. It used to be a time where the people who came actually wanted to pray for the Mayor. Now the focus has completely shifted away from that and I think they just tack on a quick prayer at the end so they can still call it that.
Last year I went and it was a packed house of over 2500 people. The food was great, there were a lot of "important" people there as well as families of all the fallen soldiers Saskatoon has had as of late. The problem was that the entire event was basically focused on these fallen soldiers. Now I have nothing against that at all and am glad those soldiers are willing to fight for our country, but I don't think this event is the time or place to honour them. I would have been fine with a short tribute to them, however it went on and on and the entire event dragged on for way too long (I think it got near 3 hours). Then they tacked on a prayer at the end.
This year they have announced that they will be honouring the three football teams that had great seasons...the Hilltops, the Riders, and the Aden Bowman Bears, and Kent Austin is to be the keynote speaker. What does that have anything to do with a Mayor's Prayer Breakfast!! I also have nothing against football (except that it in no way is as good as soccer), but do we really need to honour the Riders during a Mayor's prayer breakfast?
I think the organizers of this event are simply trying to propel this event into a huge thing and get as many people there as possible. They want to get 5000 people there this year! It used to be a more intimate event of around 250 people who actually cared about the prayer part of the event and the focus was on the Mayor.
So what do you think? Is this event really a Mayor's prayer breakfast anymore or is it ok to tack along all these other things in order to attract a much larger number of people?
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6 comments:
Why did they begin praying for the Saskatoon mayor to begin with? Did people pray so that he would govern better?
Oh, and I am totally with you on the football-in-no-way-as-good-as-soccer thing.
Down here in the States, I am in the minority, of course -- but the minority is growing!
Sheldon; Your Jan 20th blog on the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast is right on. I own a small business here in town and I was asked to be a sponsor. In return I would get preferential seating and parking. Hey, I would rather just be one of a smaller group of people that actually care enough to pray for our leaders, I don't need preferential treatment or a big show to impress people.
IN regards to your football comment, you never hear young moms complaining about driving their kids around in a van and being labeled as a "football Mom" so I am not sure soccer is a better game.
Keep up the neat blog!
Tom
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comment! Yesterday in church I saw a poster for this event and the entire thing was focused on football...it even said to wear green! If it wasn't labelled a prayer breakfast I would have thought it was a pep rally.
I also have nothing against football...I'm just a soccer lover so I'll often take a few jabs at football although it is still a fun sport!
Hi Sheldon,
I agree with you 100%. Calling it a Prayer breakfast seem kind of weird, when you think about it.
Keri, a friend of your sisters.
I would like to express my objection to the “Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast” that will take place on Saturday, March 13, 2010. I find it troubling that Mayor Atchison, an elected official, is willing to use his civic title and position to promote a particular religious ideology while also appearing to turn a profit in ticket sales. The invited speakers and performers for the prayer breakfast appear to represent a very specific evangelical Christian ideology, which undermines the mayor’s credibility and impartiality as a public official who has a duty to represent all citizens of Saskatoon. Perhaps the Mayor’s efforts would be better directed in finding ways to benefit all Saskatoon residents, rather than only those who believe in his particular religious point of view. I hope that the Mayor and council will refrain from holding the prayer breakfast in the future.
Neither the Mayor nor council have anything to do with organizing this event- they're all invited by an independant group that runs the event. As far as profits go, the event barely pays for itself. Really, if the Muslim, Atheist, Hindu, Jewish, etc. communities want to hold an event for the Mayor, they're free to do so. Please get your facts straight, Ash.
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