Eat, Pray, Woodbury

Since 2000, members of the Woodbury community and surrounding areas have gathered together in faith to hear music, pray, listen to a speaker and eat a fantastic meal at the Woodbury Area Prayer Breakfast. “I think the feeling that individuals get overall, being able to pray for specific organizations in the community and the community at large, makes the event very successful,” Mark Hargis, president of the event, says. Back in 2000, it was his father, Mayor William Hargis, who started the first Woodbury Area Prayer Breakfast.

The program has evolved over the years, but its profound impact has remained. “It’s a great event for those who are passionate,” Hargis says. Attendance has also grown, with the first breakfast hosting around 100 people versus the crowd of 400 attending last year.

Each year, the event includes a family-style breakfast; music; prayers for the many businesses, organizations and members of the community; testimonies from select participants and a keynote speaker. This year’s event, set for May 1, features Greg Speck, youth and family communicator for Youth Leadership in St. Paul, who will be speaking to the theme Answering the Call—Living with Purpose. “Greg has a great testimony of being able to be a leader for any next generation,” Hargis says. “I know he’s going to be very impactful on many lives.”

“I think the idea of the prayer breakfast is that it’s an event that brings other things into action,” says Janice Nelson, registration and ticketing member for the event. Tickets for the event, which begins at 7 a.m. at the Envision Event Center, are $25 per seat. Tickets should be purchased in advance.  



Woodbury Area Prayer Breakfast
7 a.m. May 1, Envision Event Center