A public meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa, opened Tuesday night with an invocation that moved from addressing a “dark father” to the words “Hail Satan” before the Pledge of Allegiance. That is quite a civic icebreaker, unless someone decided the city needed a religious freedom stress test before public business began.
The official City of Ottumwa recording shows resident and former councilman Matt Dalbey delivering the invocation at the October 6 meeting. He called on those present to stand “unbowed” by religious doctrine, embrace what he called the “Luciferian impulse,” rely on reason, and resist arbitrary authority. He then closed with the words, “It is done. Hail Satan.”
The meeting moved directly into the Pledge of Allegiance, including the words “one nation under God.” Country singer John Rich noticed the unusual sequence and wrote, “Wait a minute…they pray to satan, then say the Pledge of Allegiance? What??” It is difficult to blame anyone for needing a second look at that agenda.
Wait a minute…they pray to satan, then say the Pledge of Allegiance? What?? https://t.co/tMd83Cy78A
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) October 7, 2026
Pastor Rick Bick of New Life Center did not let the moment pass quietly. Shortly after roll call began, Bick stood and said the city needed to “reverse that curse” immediately. Mayor Benjamin Foote then paused the proceedings for roughly 30 seconds of silent reflection before the council continued with its scheduled agenda. Video of Bick’s objection shows him describing the invocation as a “CURSE put on our city.”
AMAZING
BRAVE man stands up to @City_of_Ottumwa council, REBUKING the satanic prayer at the beginning of the meeting and calling on the council to REVERSE it.
"That was a CURSE put on our city when he said 'Hail Satan' and 'Oh dark god,' and most of you know that. And we just… https://t.co/LhPNR3zkC9 pic.twitter.com/5r1T2LdN3k
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 7, 2026
Conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman described the controversy bluntly: “A CITY COUNCIL IN IOWA JUST OPENED ITS MEETING WITH A PRAYER TO SATAN, AND I CAN’T BELIEVE I EVEN HAVE TO TYPE THAT.” He argued that Ottumwa residents deserved answers about how the invocation reached the schedule and who approved the arrangement. He also urged people to pray for the town, which is certainly a more traditional response than applauding the invocation and pretending nobody noticed.
A CITY COUNCIL IN IOWA JUST OPENED ITS MEETING WITH A PRAYER TO SATAN, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVEN HAVE TO TYPE THAT.
The invocation at the Ottumwa city council meeting reportedly ended with the words "Hail Satan."
This is a small town in the heartland, not some coastal college…
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 7, 2026
The explanation lies in a policy the council adopted in January. Under the policy, any city resident may volunteer to deliver a prayer or invocation lasting up to two minutes. The mayor maintains the volunteer list, and applicants are placed on the meeting schedule on a first-come, first-served basis.
The policy says the city is not endorsing any faith. It was written to include organized religions, unorganized religions, other belief systems, and people with no religious belief at all. It also bars the mayor from reviewing or censoring an invocation before it is delivered to the council and citizens. In plain English, the policy was designed to stop government from choosing a favored religion, but it also opened the microphone to viewpoints many residents find deeply offensive. Apparently, neutrality comes with a rather unusual guest list.
Councilwoman Cara Galloway was the only member to vote against the policy when it was adopted. Near the end of Tuesday’s meeting, she said the controversy was exactly why she had raised concerns. Once the city opened its meetings to invocations, she argued, officials had to remain neutral toward viewpoints they did not share or risk legal trouble for taxpayers.
Ottumwa Radio independently confirmed Wednesday that Dalbey delivered the invocation and that the city permits people from different religious and philosophical backgrounds to participate. The local report directed readers to the complete council recording rather than relying only on a social-media excerpt. It also confirmed the basic sequence, the invocation came first, followed by the council’s remaining scheduled business.
For Ottumwa residents, the dispute is now about more than one shocking closing line. It is about whether a city can maintain a viewpoint-neutral invocation policy while residents object to what is said at the microphone. The council’s rules may have been written to avoid government favoritism, but Tuesday’s meeting showed the political and cultural cost of handing over the opening prayer without prior review.
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