Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attended the Nova Scotia Leadership Prayer Breakfast in Halifax on 9 April 2015. David Evans, Dartmouth Nova Scotia Stake president; Anna Davison, Dartmouth Nova Scotia Stake director of public affairs; and Janet MacLennan, Halifax co-ordinating council director, joined more than 200 attendees, including Leo Glavine, provincial minister of health; Lena Diab, minister of justice; and Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, the guest speaker.
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Mayor Savage, who grew up in an active Catholic family of seven children, spoke candidly and sometimes emotionally of his parents, their cancers and their palliative care. His father was mayor of Dartmouth and premier of Nova Scotia.
Jack Murta, former MP, who now gives leadership to the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, also spoke. He explained that the prayer breakfast idea came from reflecting on John 21, in which Jesus was cooking fish and bread on the shore after his resurrection and he called to his disciples in their fishing boats to come and eat, and from Matthew 18:20, which states, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Though the National Prayer Breakfast, held in Ottawa, is the most well-known prayer breakfast in Canada, other annual prayer breakfasts are held in many cities and capitals around the country, as well as in many countries around the world.Janet MacLennan was grateful she attended the Halifax event. “Although attending the Ottawa breakfast is exciting, inspiring — and one meets great people — it is at our local breakfast where we meet local people with whom we can build more ongoing relationships.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to pray regularly. David A. Bednar, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, explained that “prayer becomes more meaningful as we pray for others with real intent and a sincere heart.” Prayer breakfasts help to unify people from different religious groups as they focus on what they have in common.