Grace Seminary grad and former Grace faculty member Larry Poland, who for a number of years has headed an outreach ministry to media and entertainment professionals in Hollywood, is the founder and organizer of an annual Media Prayer Breakfast. Excerpts from a release giving details on this year’s event follow:
“Prayer” and “Hollywood” don’t often fit in the same sentence. But, on October 1, prayer will be very much on the minds of hundreds who gather for the inaugural National Media Prayer Breakfast in the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton.
Breakfast organizers announced this week that TV personality and music artist John Tesh, Florence LaRue and Willie Williams of the 5th Dimension, and a gospel choir will provide music for the event. People from all over America are coming together to focus prayer on the 700 most powerful and influential media people in the world.
Currently scheduled to provide an opening prayer is “The Purpose-Driven Life” author Dr. Rick Warren. Other program participants scheduled to appear include “Without a Trace” performer Eric Close, “As the World Turns” actor Peter Parros, film legend Rhonda Fleming, and Charter Communications president Carl Vogel, among others.
“The message to Hollywood’s elite is that there are millions of Christians who care enough about them to pray for them, not just boycott, protest or bash them,” says breakfast founder Dr. Larry Poland. “We want to send media leaders a positive message of love and forgiveness.”
Poland’s organization has been doing this for fifteen years through its “Media Leader Prayer Calendar,” the most widely recognized and respected publication of its kind. For information and online registration visit www.nmpb2004.org. The event is sponsored by Mastermedia International www.mastermediaintl.org in alliance with the Hollywood Prayer Network www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org.