The annual Arnold Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, in the banquet center at the First Baptist Church of Arnold, 2012 Missouri State Road.
Darrell Missey, the Children’s Division director of Missouri Social Services and former Jefferson County Circuit judge, will be the keynote speaker for the event, which the Arnold Rotary Club sponsors.
“It is a great honor as a member of the community and of the faith community (to be named the keynote speaker),” Missey said. “To have people think I might bring words that are uplifting and helpful is a real compliment.”
Arnold Rotary Club member Steve Smith said the late Walter Moore, who died Dec. 5, 2020, started the prayer breakfast.
“We want to make sure it continues,” Smith said. “The United States has a national day of prayer, and the state of Missouri does, so why would our city not do that same? Prayer needs to happen outside of just the walls of the church.”
Reservations for a table of eight cost $80, and individual tickets cost $13. Table reservations and tickets may be purchased by calling 636-492-2772 or by going to the Rotary Club’s Facebook page.
The deadline for reservations is Wednesday, Sept. 4. A limited number of tickets may be available the day of the prayer breakfast.
“I think it is going to be a really nice morning,” Arnold Mayor Ron Counts said. “We have a nice venue, and it has been well attended in the past. It pulls your community together and shows the different perspectives of our city.”
Missey, 57, moved to Jefferson City following a 19-year career as a Jefferson County judge to become the director of Missouri’s Children’s Division, which operates under the Missouri Department of Social Services and administers child welfare services and works in partnership with families, communities, the courts and other government entities to ensure the safety and well-being of Missouri children.
“We have made significant progress at the Children’s Division,” Missey said. “One of the things I am very happy about is the degree to which we have engaged community partners, particularly people in the faith community, to come along side us to help take care of kids and families. We have made real progress on reducing the number of children in foster care and getting them home and keep them home when we can. I am very pleased with our progress.”
Counts said he is excited to have Missey as the keynote speaker. He said the former judge swore him in as Arnold mayor after he won his first election in 2009.
“He is a great Christian man and a good person,” Counts said. “I think we are going to have a nice crowd. I suspect it will be a sellout.”
Smith also said Missey is the perfect keynote speaker for the event.
“It is a prayer breakfast, and we want someone who stands on the word of God and who lives it in their daily lives,” he said. “We want a person who has a message to share, and they realize prayer is necessary for us individually, our city, state and nation. Darrell Missey believes in that.”
Missey said he plans to deliver a message similar to one he has shared at other community events over the years.
“My message almost always emphasizes the importance of us loving our neighbor and doing that with meaningful action that helps folks who may be less fortunate or struggling,” he said.
About 150 people attended last year’s prayer breakfast.
Counts said he believes it is important to hold the annual event.
“A lot of times people lose perspective of what is important in life,” he said. “This is one of those things that gives everyone a chance to realize that politics are important and what you do in the city is important, but I think what you put above that is our faith and religion. I think it gives everybody the opportunity to see that.”