Doors will open at 6:45 a.m. for guests to form a line at a breakfast buffet as the 34th annual Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast begins May 1 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Local leaders prepare to participate in the Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast May 1. Clockwise from bottom left are city of Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast Task Force vice chair of publicity Tom Francescon Sr., assistant chair of publicity T.W. Francescon Jr. and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger.Tickets are $20 per person and need to be pre-ordered if possible. Free parking will be provided at Finley Stadium lots. A free shuttle bus from Finley to the Chattanooga Convention Center will run every five minutes, beginning at 6:15 a.m.
"Between 1,500 to 1,800 people attend every year," said event vice chair of publicity Tom Francescon Sr. "We have leaders from government, business and education in attendance."
Event chairman Charles F. Monroe, president of Card-Monroe Corporation, will begin the program at 7:20 a.m., serving as master of ceremonies. Gov. Bill Haslam and Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson will greet those in attendance at the podium.
Attendees will pray for national, local and state leaders. An Old Testament and New Testament scripture reading will take place. Featured speaker John Beckett, author of "Loving Monday," will take the podium next. Beckett will show leaders in attendance how to apply biblical principles in the workplace. He will explain how he was able to do that as an engineer in the manufacturing field.
"We appreciate and enjoy the participation of both the city and county mayors, as well as the surrounding area mayors that attend," said Francescon. "The event has been a tradition since 1978."
He said mayors from all surrounding municipalities are encouraged to attend and often do, including many of those from neighboring Walker and Catoosa counties as well as from within Hamilton County.
"We want to unite people in government, leadership, education and business," said Francescon. "We want to emphasize that morals, ethics, integrity and character are important in the marketplace."