A city council meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa was disrupted on Tuesday after Matthew Dalbey, a former council member, invoked Satan on the podium.
Dalbey began his prayer with “Dear, dark father” and capped
it off with “Hail Satan”.
Rick Bick, a pastor who was at the meeting, quickly opposed
Dalbey’s prayer.
“Let’s just reverse that curse that was just put on our
city, that ending with ‘Hail Satan’ and ‘Hail dark god’, that’s not welcome
here,” Bick said.
“This should be done… at the end,” Cara Galloway, another
council member said, objecting to distractions at the meeting.
“That needs to be done now,” the pastor said. “I appreciate
what Ms. Galloway is saying, but that was a curse put on the city. Most of you
know that, and we need to just stop and reverse it.”
Benjamin Foote, the city mayor, called for a 30-second
moment of silence “to reflect on whatever it is we need to reflect on at this
time”.
Galloway tried to interrupt again, saying “it was time to
move forward” but the mayor overruled her.
Dalbey’s invocation was within the scope of the city’s invocation policy, which was approved on January
20.
The invocation, according to the policy, was started to
allow each council meeting an opportunity “to include
our Creator into our decision making, start with a blessing for
our City and additional guidance towards our decisions”.
The policy was also created 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”.
Galloway was the only council member to vote against the
policy at the time, saying the practice of invocations would open the city to
viewpoints that “may not reflect our own”.
Dalbey said he did not volunteer to do the invocation as a
way to prove a point or to curse the city.
He said he did it because he is a member of the Satanic
Temple.
Dalbey said it was a common misconception that he and other
members of the temple worship Satan, adding that it was more about what they
don’t believe in.
“I found this and I thought, this is nothing like I thought
it would be. It has every tenent here that I agree with as a person,” Dalbey
said.
“Yeah, they call themselves Satanist. But, you know, I
understand their metaphor there, but that’s no big deal. I like what they stand
for.”
Some residents are now calling for the invocations to end
altogether.
Dalbey’s prayer has also gone viral on social media,
sparking reactions, many in form of prayers.
One X user posted a
recital of a Saint Michael the Archangel prayer used in the Catholic Church for
spiritual warfare, protection against temptation, and exorcism.
Here are more reactions:
@libsoftiktok @City_of_Ottumwa https://t.co/qo9oVyGepN
— PlainJohn (@PlainJohn0) October 7, 2026
@libsoftiktok @City_of_Ottumwa This is the jackassery we get when weak politicians try to appease everyone. https://t.co/e8JGb9XtI8
— Boyd Crowder (@TTNSSE) October 7, 2026
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday@libsoftiktok @City_of_Ottumwa https://t.co/fZaDF6Y6Vp
— Mario Benavides Jr (@Mario_Ben22) October 7, 2026
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