We arrived in Atlanta, Georgia at midnight, pulling up to the First Metropolitan Community Church where we’re staying for the week. We knocked on the door and who should answer but the reverend himself, the awesome and very gracious Mr. Paul Graetz. He had stayed awake and waited at the church until we arrived, and after showing us our new digs, he told us a little more about the church.
What we learned is this: First MCC (as they call it) is a progressive, non-denominational church, focusing on reaching out to the youth and LGBTQ communities. He informed us that we would be attending service with heterosexuals, homosexuals, transvestites, and much more. We were amazed that so early into our trip, we would be focusing not on the homeless community, but the LGBTQ community! We’ve all been excited to learn more about this church and meet people (who have all been extremely generous and kind).
This morning, half of us (the ladies) attended church, while the other half (the men) charitably worked at Café 458. Reverend Paul called the four of us (myself, Lena, Sarah, and Kayla) to the front of the congregation and had us talk about Alternative Breaks and the work we’re planning to do in Atlanta. Lena, being the PR girl, gave the Alternative Breaks spiel and explained that we’d be working with the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency. Reverend Paul then announced that he’d be collecting an offering to sustain us throughout the week – due to “Southern Hospitality,” the congregation simply can’t allow us to buy food for ourselves during our visit. We also explained that the remainder of our food budget would be returned to Alternative Breaks for the scholarship fund, so he wants us to give as much as we can back to such a wonderful program so that “more kids have a chance to make a change.”
We met one of the cleanup staff for the church, Sarah, who told us she would stock the downstairs kitchen with snacks and breakfast foods (I’m telling you, Southern hospitality is totally a thing). Sure enough, an hour later, we walked downstairs to find the counter overflowing with cereal, macaroni and cheese, canned soup, and oatmeal (apparently someone told them we’re college kids). They must know that the quickest route to the heart is through the stomach, because we are all so touched by their generosity!
Apparently the church collected quite a bit of money through the offering – at least enough to buy us dinner at Little Bangkok, a delicious local Thai food restaurant a couple of streets away. Reverend Paul and his partner, Robert, accompanied and entertained us through endless glasses of Thai iced tea (SO GOOD) and various curry-infused dishes.
Now, don’t worry: we actually did some service work today, too. And by “we,” I mean “Will, Mitch, and Tyler.” They stayed at Café 458 and served the general public – the café is only open to the general public on Sundays, and all the proceeds go to the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency. The rest of the week (which I’ll get to later, of course), the food at the café is free and serves anybody in need. We’re so excited for our week here!
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