By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Casey Council is seeking to hold an annual Christian prayer breakfast to pray for and thank emergency services members.
Outgoing mayor Sam Aziz raised the successful motion on 9 November to invite pastors, chaplains, business leaders, school principals, political leaders and community leaders to the event.
The breakfast would ensure members of Victoria Police, CFA and other emergency groups knew an “entire community” were grateful for their deeds, Cr Aziz said.
Casey would facilitate the event with Casey Pastors Network at Bunjil Place.
The breakfast was suggested by Casey City Church pastor Larry Sebastian, who was leading an 18-month campaign to “Love This City”, Cr Aziz said.
The campaign had so far had “amazing results”, encouraging Casey residents to bestow random acts of kindness.
Casey Multi-Faith Network president Jim Reiher said he had “no beef” with the emphasis on the Christian faith.
“We have a relaxed and gracious attitude to the Casey Pastors Network.
“They have a large congregation of members in the community – the churches (in Casey) are very large compared to the mosques and temples.
“I would suggest though that it would be nice to hold a similar breakfast with the Multi-Faith Network.”
Mr Reiher said the network had a “good run” with recent mayors including Cr Aziz, Cr Amanda Stapledon, Cr Wayne Smith and newly-elected mayor Geoff Ablett.
