Iowa City Council Meeting Disrupted by Satanic Invocation

An Iowa city council meeting took a surprising turn on Tuesday when a resident opened with a satanic prayer. The invocation was delivered by former council member Matt Dalbey, who called upon the “dark father” and encouraged participants to embrace the “Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge,” concluding with a “Hail Satan” proclamation.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, New Life Center pastor Rick Bick spoke up, insisting on a response to Dalbey’s invocation. “Let’s just reverse this curse that was put on our city. That ending with ‘Hail Satan’ or ‘Hail dark god’, that’s not welcome here,” he asserted.

Council member Cara Galloway attempted to redirect the meeting, asking Bick to save his comments for later. However, Bick pressed on, stating, “It needs to be done now. When he said ‘Hail Satan’… most of you know that, and we need to just stop and reverse it.”

In response, Mayor Benjamin Foote suggested a 30-second pause for prayer or reflection, countering Galloway’s attempt to move the agenda forward.

Speaking to the media afterward, Foote remarked, “This is not a reflection of our community. The invocation read at the start of Tuesday’s meeting does not represent the faith or the values of families who call this city home.”

Following the event, Galloway expressed her long-standing concerns over prayer invocations at city council meetings, highlighting that they could lead to potential conflicts. “Opening with an invocation means allowing viewpoints that may not reflect our own,” she noted, worrying about the implications of permitting such expressions.

Reportedly, the city adopted an invocation policy earlier this year, which aims to respect the diverse beliefs within Ottumwa while not endorsing any particular faith. Dalbey, a member of The Satanic Temple of Iowa, mentioned in a private message that the prayer is often used by the temple but does not involve a belief in a literal satanic deity.

Council member Bill Hoffman shared his response, explaining he left the room during the prayer but recognized Dalbey’s right to express his beliefs. “I’m a Christian man with Christian values. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to observe his First Amendment right. It just means that I want to use my rights not to observe that,” he stated.

Hoffman also indicated that the council’s invocation policy would likely be revisited in light of the recent events, emphasizing that the meeting did not endorse the content of Dalbey’s prayer.