Matt Dalbey — a resident and former councilman in Ottumwa, Iowa — stood at the podium of the Ottumwa City Council on October 6 and opened the meeting's invocation with two words: "Let us pray." Then he addressed his prayer to a "dear dark father," called on attendees to "stand unbowed by religious doctrine," embrace what he called "the Luciferian impulse," resist arbitrary authority, and rely on reason. He closed with: "It is done. Hail Satan."
That was the official opening of a city government meeting in the American heartland.
Pastor Rick Bick of New Life Center didn't sit through it quietly. He stood up in the chamber and demanded to "reverse that curse immediately." His objection was specific: "That was a CURSE put on our city when he said 'Hail Satan' and 'Oh dark god.'"
Mayor Benjamin Foote paused the proceedings for 30 seconds of silent reflection. Then the council moved to the Pledge of Allegiance. Country music artist John Rich caught the sequence and posted his reaction: "Wait a minute…they pray to satan, then say the Pledge of Allegiance? What??"
The invocation happened because Ottumwa adopted a policy back in January 2026 allowing residents from different religious and philosophical backgrounds to deliver the opening invocation on a first-come, first-served basis, with a two-minute time limit. Dalbey signed up. Nobody screened the content. The official city recording is on YouTube for anyone who thinks this sounds exaggerated.
The policy was presumably designed to signal inclusivity. In practice, it handed a government microphone to a man who used his two minutes to invoke Satan by name inside a municipal building in a town of 25,000 in southeast Iowa.
Councilwoman Cara Galloway was among the elected officials present for the invocation. The council sat through it. Pastor Bick did not.
The "first-come, first-served" framework tells you everything about how the policy was written. No review. No standards. No distinction between a community leader offering a moment of reflection and a former councilman performing a Satanic ritual on the public record. The policy treats them as identical, because treating them as identical was the point.
As reported by 100PercentFedUp.com, the video went viral on October 7. Dalbey didn't sneak this in. He used the city's own system, followed the city's own rules, and delivered exactly what the policy was built to allow. The council created a door with no lock on it and is now surprised by who walked through.
One man stood up. Pastor Bick didn't file a complaint. Didn't schedule a meeting. Didn't post a thread. He stood up in the room, in the moment, and said no. The official recording captured both the invocation and the objection.
The Pledge of Allegiance came next. Same room, same microphone, 30 seconds later.