The annual Bismarck Mayor’s Prayer Luncheon, will be held May 6, 2014, at 12:00 Noon until 1:00 p.m. Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary, will deliver the keynote address. The event will take place at the Ramkota Inn, 800 South Third Street, Bismarck. Businesses may reserve table sponsorships, $500 for a table of eight, $250 for a table of four. In Reservations are required and must be made in advance by 5:00 p.m., May 2, 2014. For information and to make reservations, call 701-355-1889 and leave a message. Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the Crisis Care Chaplaincy program.
Monsignor Shea has worked with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity at the Gift of Peace AIDS Hospice while teaching religion at two inner-city elementary schools in Washington, D.C. In Rome, he served as chaplain for the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital and also at the Rome campus of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of Saint Thomas. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 2002, he returned to North Dakota and served as an associate pastor in Bismarck and Mandan. During that time, he was also the chaplain and an instructor at Saint Mary's Central High School in Bismarck. He then served as pastor to parishes in Killdeer and Halliday (North Dakota), while teaching at Trinity High School in Dickinson. Deeply committed to the education and formation of young people, he has been an inspirational teacher and mentor for many students.
The Crisis Care Chaplaincy serves the Bismarck Police and Fire Departments, Bismarck Rural Fire Department, Burleigh County Sheriff, and the N.D. State Highway Patrol.