Iowa mayor reviewing prayer policy after satanic invocation delivered at city council meeting

October 12, 2026

The born-again Christian mayor of Ottumwa, Iowa says he plans to review his city’s invocation policy after a satanic prayer at a city council meeting went viral.

The Christian Post reports that last week, the Ottumwa City Council opened its meeting with a scheduled invocation from Matthew Dalbey, a former council member who is now a member of The Satanic Temple of Iowa.

In his invocation, Dalbey prayed for the city to “embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge,” a reference to the Garden of Eden account in Genesis 3.

The city’s invocation policy allows any volunteer, including residents like Dalbey, to sign up to give the invocation.

According to the Ottumwa city website, organizations or individuals must be approved before requesting to give an invocation.

The invocation policy, approved in January, “is intended to acknowledge and express the City Council’s respect for the diversity of both organized and unorganized religious denominations, as well as other faiths, belief systems, or the lack thereof, represented and practiced among the citizens of the City of Ottumwa.”

Councilman Bill Hoffman Jr. confirmed that the invocation was approved under city policy but said the mayor and council members “are not aware of the content beforehand.”

According to the city’s website, Dalbey is scheduled to give another invocation Nov. 3, but Mayor Benjamin Foote said that invocation is now under review.

Dalbey said he is, “reviewing our invocation policy to see if any revisions need to be made so we can continue to have prayer and safeguard against statements like what we saw on Tuesday.”

Photo: top, Credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Ottumwa Iowa (Official)