Twice a week, Texas church meets neighbors in its parking lot.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — “Free Bread.”
“Free Bibles.”
The simple messages catch the attention of motorists passing the Bridgewood Church of Christ — at a busy corner just off the East Loop 820 thoroughfare.
“Is it really free?’” people ask.
“It’s free,” church member Booker Williams assures them. “It’s like salvation. You’ve just got to come and get it.”
The North Texas church started giving away physical — and spiritual — food in its parking lot nearly three years ago.
The outreach began as a one-time pop-up. It transformed into a twice-weekly benevolence program that connects the congregation with neighbors and leads souls to Jesus.
“A food pantry that I volunteer with … used to give us like two or three of these banana boxes of bread,” minister Jon McKenzie said. “Our members would just kind of grab the bread from the kitchen … and they could give it to a friend or a neighbor who needed it.”
But one day, the charity called and offered McKenzie extra bread — 24 cases in all.
He gulped and took it.
Contemplating how to distribute it, he thought, “We’re on a busy road, so why don’t we just try and give it away?”
He rounded up Bibles to hand out with the bread, but he feared the impromptu pop-up might just go … pop.
“I was worried it was going to flop, so I didn’t call anybody for help. It was just me,” McKenzie recalled. “And the people came. … I guess the rest is history.”
This story appears in the August edition of The Christian Chronicle.
Photo by Camilo Diaz Jr.
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 