For over 20 years, St. Andrew’s Cathedral’s McClure Courtyard and Parish Hall have undergone a weekly transformation on Tuesday mornings. Instead of greeting guests for a reception, a wedding party, or a coffee hour, the doors open to those in need in downtown Jackson for Breakfast Club.
What lies on the other side of those doors for the 50 to sometimes more than 100 people who show up? A hot, freshly cooked meal. A respite from the heat or cold outside. Perhaps a new coat or a pair of shoes.
And the dignity of being welcomed and treated not as a statistic, or a societal problem, but as a human being.
“Being the Cathedral in the City,” says Dean Anne Maxwell, “means following Jesus’ call for us to feed the hungry. We are well situated for this ministry in downtown Jackson.”
The city has long struggled with a high rate of poverty. Even many people who are not currently homeless live only a paycheck or two away from landing on the street. That reality makes a ministry like Breakfast Club especially important.
“We’re supposed to go out and get these guys and bring them in and minister to them,” says Gina Halfacre, the liaison for the program. “The church at large is supposed to look a lot more like them than like you and I.”
The work begins as early as 5:30, with a brigade of volunteers preparing the food, serving it, and managing the crowd. The atmosphere is almost like that of a bustling restaurant, complete with friendly greetings, drink refills, and seconds for anyone who asks.
Ed Oliver, a longtime volunteer, says that if the prepared food runs out, the crew will scour the fridges, freezers, and pantry for any leftovers to feed the guests. It’s not uncommon to see someone enjoying a cupcake or a frozen burrito to supplement their breakfast.
“A couple of years ago—and it just happened to be the Tuesday after the gospel had been the feeding of the 5,000—we were set up for 80 and had 117 people show up,” he says. “We were rolling in tables and chairs, we set tables up outside. Helen started cooking whatever she could find. There were some sandwiches from Jimmy John’s left over from a vestry meeting and we cut those up. Everybody got something to eat.”
The Cathedral has become known among people as one of the go-to places downtown to get a meal, and the fact that large crowds continue to line up every Tuesday highlights how much the ministry is needed. It was the clarity of that need that drew Halfacre in.
“I showed up the first time and I thought, well, you know, I’m just going to see what this is about,” she says. “I left that first morning and I thought, ‘How can I not go back?’ It was just—it was transformative to me.”
While fulfilling a basic human need for the city’s most vulnerable is the outward and visible sign of Breakfast Club’s purpose, there’s also an inward and spiritual component baked right into the very core of its mission.
“The love that I have for these guys is not my love,” says Halfacre. “It’s God’s love. I don’t have the capacity to love the way I feel I’m called to love. But if I keep that channel open so that love flows through it, it’s the love of the Creator, it’s the love of the Supreme. And I guess from a spiritual aspect it’s keeping that channel open, it’s keeping that conduit clear. So that love can flow. I hope it shows to these folks.”
Oliver agrees.
“We offer them, I think, expressions of the love of God and hopefully they will see us being the hands and feet of Jesus… that’s the intent.”
Getting involved with such a vulnerable community carries with it the burden of growing attached to people whose very existence is fragile. Gina has watched several of her guests go through especially hard times or even die despite the best efforts of St. Andrew’s and its community partners.
Despite the difficulties, such a ministry is exactly what St. Andrew’s is called to.
“Jesus commands us to love our neighbor,” says Maxwell. “These people are our literal neighbors. They live on the same streets that our Cathedral does, and they deserve love just as much as anyone else.”
Grab&Go Breakfasts
During the first few months of the year, staff at the Cathedral noticed a trend—the line of people experiencing homelessness waiting to get in to the church for coffee hour on Sunday mornings was getting longer, and the cookie supply was running short. This sparked a realization. Between the Cathedral, other area churches, and charitable organizations, meals are made available for hungry people downtown every day of the week… except Sunday.
This sparked a new ministry idea—Sunday Grab&Go Breakfasts. Staff and volunteers began assembling breakfast bags with muffins and bananas, filling up coffee urns, and taking them down to the lower courtyard to serve people who visit the West Street entrance to the Cathedral. Without even making any announcement, the program served 18 on its first day and grew steadily throughout Lent.
Director of Parish Life and Newcomer Ministries Gracey Belote has overseen the program and is thrilled with its success.
“This is a way to fill a real need on Sundays and to do it in a better way than we were before,” says Belote. “We’re helping people who need it find a more substantial and more nutritious meal rather than loading up on cookies. Though, of course, anyone who wants cookies is welcome to come inside and get them!”
Everyone is still welcome, as always, to join services, coffee hours, and other fellowship opportunities at the Cathedral. Grab&Go Breakfasts, however, make sure that none of the Cathedral’s neighbors have to make a meal out of what’s meant to be a snack.
After a trial period during Lent, the program has been extended indefinitely, and is now feeding more than 50 people most Sundays.
To make a donation to St. Andrew’s Grab&Go Breakfast ministry, visit standrews.ms/grab (select “Grab and Go Breakfast Program” from the dropdown menu).