(Christian News) — An 80-minute Ottumwa City Council meeting turned chaotic on Tuesday night after a former council member opened the proceedings with an official Satanic prayer, culminating in the declaration “Hail Satan” and prompting a local pastor to interrupt the meeting to demand that leaders “reverse the curse.”

Former council member Matt Dalbey—who delivered the invocation as a member of The Satanic Temple of Iowa—stood at the podium and addressed a “Dear Dark Father.”

“Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat from the tree of knowledge,” Dalbey said during the 42-second prayer. “That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is done. Hail Satan.”

The invocation immediately drew audible groans and discomfort from the audience. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call, local pastor Rick Bick approached the microphone to voice outrage over the opening remarks.

“That was a curse put on the city,” Bick told the council, arguing that officials needed to pause the proceedings immediately. “Most of you know that, and we need to just stop and reverse it.”

In an effort to regain order, Mayor Benjamin Foote called for a 30-second moment of silence “to reflect on whatever it is we need to reflect on at this time.” Mayor Foote later noted that the prayer “does not represent the faith or values of the families who call this city home.”

The controversy stems from an open invocation policy passed by the council in January, which allows local residents of any faith or non-theistic belief system to apply for a slot to open meetings. Council member Cara Galloway cast the lone vote against adopting the policy at the time, specifically warning that the city would be legally obligated to allow Satanic or non-traditional invocations if it allowed public prayers.

Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent (Town of Greece v. Galloway), government bodies that permit public invocations cannot legally discriminate against specific religious viewpoints without opening themselves up to constitutional lawsuits.

Dalbey, who is scheduled to deliver another invocation at the council’s November 3 meeting, defended the prayer to local reporters, explaining that The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic organization and that the text “has nothing to do with the belief in a satanic deity.”

By Wednesday, city hall reported receiving a flood of calls regarding the incident, while video of the meeting quickly became the most-watched recording in the history of the city’s official YouTube channel.

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