It’s been 45 years since the late Allan Watson started a weekly prayer breakfast at Calvary Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, where he was pastor at the time. And while some things and many of the people have changed since the group’s start in 1967, the consistent time and place for Christian men to have fellowship, prayer and a time for reflection on their lives has not.
John Price, a member of Taylorville Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, currently organizes the group’s schedule. Ten to 15 percent of the prayer breakfast’s current attendees are non-Calvary Baptist members, he said, noting the group began attracting those outside the church and denomination walls in the late 1990s when leaders of the prayer breakfast added a new element to the weekly gatherings — a devotional brought each week by religious, political and community leaders. Pastors, politicians and even athletic staff from the University of Alabama are among those who encourage the members of the prayer breakfast each week.
After Watson died in 2001, the group voted to name the weekly event the Allan R. Watson Prayer Breakfast.
In 2006, the group established another named element — the Jim Dowell Service Award, an award yearly given to a man “who has displayed outstanding leadership qualities throughout the year,” according to the prayer group’s self-description.
Dowell, a member of Calvary Baptist at the time, was involved with the prayer breakfast for 11 years until he moved in 2006. He now resides in Newnan, Ga., and told The Alabama Baptist how the group encouraged him and how he saw it be a blessing to others over the years.
“It was something to look forward to each week,” he said. “We even had several people join (Calvary Baptist) because they started coming (to the breakfast).”
Currently the breakfast begins at 7 a.m. each Friday in Calvary Baptist’s Family Life Center. The men pay for breakfast and serve themselves, then have a time of fellowship at their tables.
The group then prays for the people on a running list they keep, after they update it each week. Afterward comes the devotional.
The breakfast group sends a postcard to each person on its prayer list, letting the individuals know they have been prayed for.
“We’ve touched a lot of families,” Dowell said, noting that people often expressed gratitude for the men’s prayers.
Calvary Baptist is located at 1121 Paul Bryant Drive in Tuscaloosa. For more information about the breakfast, contact the church at 205-758-0495.
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