And I think you’ll like it, too.
Every day, if time allows, I go to Google Reader and catch up on the latest church and tech blogs that I follow. Many are very entertaining, many are very informative, and many are very moving… but they don’t always bring about the inspiration for my next post.
As I started writing this, I realized that it might be a little embarrassing to admit where I finally found today’s inspiration. As you may remember, I wrote a post recently about a story in Outreach magazine’s January/February issue, but I hadn’t had time to read the mag all the way through so I had closed it and set it aside on my desk. Well, a few pages and a couple of weeks later, I found some time to read the rest of the way through and I stumbled upon this really cool story.
The title of the article was, “Lovin’ It at This McDonald’s Coffee Club”. A pastor named George Johnston from Calvary Baptist Church in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada has made a habit of meeting at his local McDonald’s every weekday morning. He said the morning meetings in the corner of the restaurant (dubbed the “Christian Corner” by the McDonald’s employees) are full of different people each day… some Baptists, Anglicans, and even non-Christians.
The coolest thing that I got out of it was the impact that the meetings are having on the community. For instance, once a year, this group has their charity fundraiser called “McHappy Day”, which is where Johnston gets behind the counter to help out. When speaking with the manager one day, they were informed of the hardships that one employee was going through to find a home for her family with special needs, so they helped her move into their Habitat for Humanity house. They also raised money for an employee whose car broke down and needed a new one.
It’s stories like these that remind us of the good in this world and the ways that we can all turn something like a minor fast food meeting into something that can impact a lot of people. McDonald’s and good Christian conversations in the morning? Sounds like my kind of meeting!