Kyle Rote Jr., who, at the pinnacle of his career as a professional athlete took a year off to work with Mother Teresa, will be the guest speaker at the 2009 Cleburne Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast, set for March 2 at Cleburne Bible Church.

Singer, musician and author Kim Wickes will be the featured musical guest.

“Initially we thought we might not even have the breakfast this year due to the lack of facilities,” said Lonnie Holliday, prayer breakfast founder and committee chairman. “We’ve always held it at the Cleburne Civic Center, which is undergoing extensive remodeling.”

“Cleburne Bible Church stepped up and said we could use their new facility,” Holliday said. “Their hospitality and help have been superb.”

The Prayer Breakfast, which began in 2004 and is co-sponsored by the Cleburne Christian Business Club, serves as an opportunity for Christians of all denominations to come together to pray for the community and nation.

“Our hopes, in coming together as a body, are to extend to each other the hand of friendship and Christian love,” Holliday said. “There is power in prayer, and I think it is very important that we will be able to gather as a community again this year to pray for our country and its new leader.”

Tickets for the event are $5, which will include a continental breakfast, and are available from committee members and at the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce. Tickets will not be sold at the door, and a ticket must be presented at the time of admission to the event.

In addition to the prayer breakfast presentations in word and song, two former Cleburne residents will take part in the program.

Retired Air Force Col. Jeff Beene will be honored for his 26 years of service to his country, and Wes Yeary, recently named chaplain of the athletics program at Baylor University, will deliver the invocation.

Beene, now director of the aviation programs at Texas State Technical College in Waco, is a veteran of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, in which he recorded more than 170 flying hours in combat as a command pilot. A 1982 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy who returned to serve as commandant of cadets, Beene’s career included two appointments to the Pentagon as a deputy chief of staff over plans and operations and later as deputy chief of staff of air and space operations.

Yeary, who was named Baylor’s athletics chaplain in June 2008, is an ordained minister. He is the son of Dr. Daniel Yeary, pastor of the 20,000-member North Phoenix Baptist Church, who served as the prayer breakfast speaker in 2005.

“We are very excited to have Jeff Beene and Wes Yeary taking part in the breakfast,” Holliday said. “Wes served as chaplain at the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics, and Jeff’s career included everything from combat missions to high-ranking positions at the Pentagon. I think this year will be very special in having both of these Cleburne natives in attendance. They have represented us well.”

Doors for the event will open at 6:15 a.m. The program will begin at 6:50 and will conclude at 8.

“Parking will be at a premium,” Holliday said. “There is very little paved parking around the church, but there is plenty of unpaved parking, and if it doesn’t rain, we should be fine. However, we are asking people to carpool if at all possible.”

In case of inclement weather, which will make parking on the unpaved areas a problem, alternate parking with shuttle service will be available at neighboring Nolan River Road Baptist Church.

Members of the 2009 breakfast committee are Dale Hannah; Mildred Townsend; Max Marsh; Pete Hobby; Luelda Robichaux; Carol Cooper, ticket chairman; E.J. Barnes; Larue Barnes;Vance Castles; Frances Hafford; Pat McCall; Pat Culpepper; Wilma Reed; and Lisa Magers.



Cutlines

Lonnie Holliday, right, chairman of the 2009 Cleburne Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast, discusses the March 2 event with Brian Goodman, left, facilities manager of Cleburne Bible Church, the site of this year’s breakfast. Also pictured is ticket chairman Carol Cooper.