HISTORY OF THE

VALLEY FORGE LEADERSHIP

PRAYER BREAKFAST
 

When John Boyer retired from his position as President and CEO of the Aqua Water Company in May 1993, he wanted to do “the Lord’s work” in his retirement. In September, John Boyer and Jim Maxim assembled a group of men to meet at the Overbrook Country Club to share ministry ideas. From this small gathering, the idea of an annual business man’s breakfast was conceived and the first Valley Forge Prayer Breakfast (VFLPB) was launched the following year.

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Alberta McCabe, a longtime friend of John and Barbara Boyer, offered to help with the breakfast because she, too, wanted “to do the Lord’s work”. Years before, Alberta had received an invitation to a dinner hosted by the much beloved couple, Art and Nancy DeMoss. She did not know why she had received it, thinking it was a mistake, and questioned whether she should attend. After reading about Art DeMoss and his charitable work in the newspaper, she was touched by Art’s philosophy that those who have been given much should give back. She decided to attend the dinner because she thought “it could not be too bad” and that was the beginning of her walk with the Lord.

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The National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C. inspired Alberta to want to adopt the concept of a prayer breakfast for the Philadelphia area. She felt a prayer breakfast for the western suburbs and beyond was important because of the wide area it could reach for the Lord. She wanted to share this with others because of what he had done in her life. Most of her friends were successful in their businesses and “had it all”. Alberta wanted to reach out to friends, acquaintances and to people she did not know, hoping for a ripple effect in influencing their coming to know the Lord.

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John Boyer, Jim Maxim, the McCabes, and a host of others launched the first VFLPB in the fall of 1994 with the selection of dynamic, well known speakers modeled after the DeMoss evangelistic dinners where both the Boyers and Alberta had come to know the Lord. The breakfast was built upon company presidents and other influential community, business leaders hosting a table with invited friends and colleagues. Alberta recalls that attendees came thinking, “What’s in it for me and my business”? They came to network with other businessmen and women and to promote their businesses and ended up meeting the Lord!

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In recent years, the VFLPB became part of Jim Maxim's  ACTS413 MINISTRIES, and has grown in size from those early days to nearly 500 men and women in attendance. It starts early in the morning and finishes in time for people to get to work. John Boyer is happy to know that the breakfast is still going strong after this many years and Alberta is still faithfully involved with the volunteer planning committee and attends the breakfast each year. 

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Some of the well-known speakers include: