Civic prayer breakfast to feature Peter Tilley of the Ottawa Mission

Elizabeth Mabie
Special to Spur Ottawa

Ottawa’s Civic Prayer Breakfast is just around the corner. This year’s speaker is Peter Tilley, executive director of the Ottawa Mission. He will be sharing some of his story and speaking on the theme “Who is my neighbour?”

“Peter Tilley is one who lived a challenging life before coming to faith,” says Gerry Organ, the prayer breakfast’s master of ceremonies. “As executive director of the Ottawa Mission, he now serves the people he once actually belonged to.”

Organ says the planning team spent a lot of time praying about who this year’s speaker should be.

“Certainly part of my journey has been a tough one,” Tilley explains. He adds that hopefully “it will make people realize we all have our challenges and that people like me are right in their neighbourhood.”

“Being charged with the responsibility of assisting others is just a beautiful thing.”

Tilley came from a home that did not prioritize faith. After a very challenging patch in his life, he began investigating some of life’s great questions and searching for God.

“Through my exploration, I came to believe and know in my heart that there is a higher power, that there was somebody above directing things,” says Tilley. “We’re so wonderfully made as humans, as a race, as a world, and everything. I knew there had to be a designer and creator and I wanted to get to know that person through an exploration of the scriptures.”

Following God’s leading, Tilley decided to leave a successful suit-and-tie job and start driving for the Ottawa Food Bank. It was a significant leap of faith. Eventually Tilley became the Food Bank’s executive director. In 2013, Tilley became the executive director of the Ottawa Mission.

“Being charged with the responsibility of assisting others is just a beautiful thing. I feel very privileged to be doing the Lord’s work,” Tilley says.

Peter Tilley talks with clients at the Ottawa Mission. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Mission.

“It should be a great story and testimony,” says Organ. “It fits so nicely with our theme.”

The theme, “Who is my neighbour?” remains an essential detail at the breakfast every year. Organizers say it keeps the crowd thinking about God’s command to love our neighbours, whoever they may be.

“It’s an overarching theme that is substantial to the gospel; that you love your neighbour and the Lord,” Organ states.

Another key element of the breakfast is praying for local first responders, the mayor, city councillors, and the people of Ottawa. This year, the breakfast seems to have gained traction at city hall. So far, the team expects Mayor Jim Watson to attend with 11 of the city councillors. That’s about twice the number of councillors attending from previous years.

Pastor Joseph Kiirya (centre) prays for first responders. Photo courtesy of One Way Ministires.

This year’s breakfast focuses on justice-related issues. That gives Tilley the perfect opportunity to speak about poverty and homelessness in the capital, as well as what the Ottawa Mission is doing to restore hope and dignity.

“There are so many distraught souls, so many people in need of assistance in one way or another. If we can provide that emotionally, physically, and spiritually, we can be the intermediator, then certainly we are blessed,” says Tilley. “The staff at the Ottawa Mission work with compassion and genuineness. I think that really restores our clients’ hope, helps them have faith in humanity, and maybe have faith that they can get better.”

The Ottawa Civic Prayer Breakfast is on Friday, October 28, at the Ottawa Conference and Event Centre.