Daily bread
Agape Meal takes unconventional route to feed homeless, low-income residents

By Bethany McCormack
Staff Reporter

The group of volunteers is as diverse as the people they serve. College students, senior citizens, adults and children — all ages and races come together at Broadway Baptist Church to serve a meal and join in fellowship with homeless and low-income neighborhood residents.

For the past five years, Broadway has hosted Agape Meal, a family-style dinner Thursday nights where church members and volunteers eat with guests while building valuable relationships, said Scott Waller, director of community ministries at Broadway.

Billy Prewitt, a junior finance major, served as a table host twice and said he was surprised by how easy it was to talk with the guests, who were aware of current events, politics and sports.

Prewitt said the worship service and sharing of prayer requests following the meal really impressed him.

“The stuff they praise God for is stuff we wouldn’t even think about,” he said. “People would say stuff like ‘I’ve been clean a week,’ and the room would cheer for them.”

Agape Meal is different from a soup kitchen where people stay to themselves, eating off paper plates with plastic utensils, Waller said. Rather than focusing on feeding as many mouths as possible, Waller said, Agape Meal tries to provide an evening of dignity and respect for people who are often looked down upon or ignored.

“We want to make this (meal) as personable, warm and welcoming as possible,” he said. “Once a week, these people are treated with sincere hospitality.”

The room is filled with round tables draped with white tablecloths, set with eight place settings and topped with vases of flowers. As the guests and volunteers talk and eat, a man plays piano softly in the background.

Waller said each week, Agape Meal relies on the help of 40 to 60 volunteers, who are Broadway members, groups from other churches and often groups of TCU students. Volunteers either serve the food or work as table hosts, who eat and talk with the guests.

The meal was inspired by a similar program at Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C., Waller said. The first Agape Meal served 30 to 40 people and now serves anywhere from 170 to 220 people each week, he said.

Waller said an optional worship service follows the meal, and it provides an opportunity for the guests to worship in a relaxed environment, since many of them would feel out of place in a formal Sunday church service.

Waller said it is easy for people to dismiss the problem of homelessness if they do not have a personal experience with it, but volunteers at Agape Meal become aware of what it means to be poor.

“The volunteers become sensitized to the problem and that empathy becomes a trigger for action,” he said.

Grete Brown, a sophomore psychology major, served as a table host last semester when she volunteered with a group of students from Baptist Student Ministries.

“I didn’t want to be a table host at first, but now I’m really glad that I did,” Brown said. “It was a really amazing experience to be able to carry on conversations with the people over dinner.”

Brown said sharing prayer requests had a profound effect on her when one person asked for prayers for help with his selfishness. Brown said she was amazed at the amount of faith of the people there.

Prewitt said serving at Agape Meal changed the way he views homelessness and helped him see the humanity of the homeless.

“I would definitely recommend volunteering at Agape Meal,” he said. “Anyone who has been wants to go back.”

Some volunteers come every Thursday, like Jerry Mueller, a retired colonel from the army since 1972, who said he has been working with Agape Meal since it first began and has only missed six times.

Mueller said volunteering is a rewarding experience for him because he can help those who truly need help, and he said he values the unique friendships he has made through Agape Meal.

When the evening is over and the guests have left, volunteers clear the tables and prepare to go home. Many of the people they have met during the evening have no place to go. While their futures are uncertain, Agape Meal remains constant, providing a warm meal and conversation with friends every Thursday night for those who want it.

Bethany McCormack
b.s.mccormack@student.tcu.edu