From food service to food service: Paul Curcio starts Brother Paul’s Barbecue in Alabaster
Published Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 6:07 p.m.
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After years working at Golden Rule Barbecue, Paul Curcio wants to help teach people how to soothe their mind, body and soul while serving up plates of barbecue when Brother Paul’s Barbecue comes to Alabaster later this year. (Reporter photo/Noah Wortham)
Noah Wortham | Editor-in-Chief
ALABASTAR – After years working at Golden Rule Barbecue, Paul Curcio wants to help teach people how to soothe their mind, body and soul while serving up plates of barbecue when Brother Paul’s Barbecue comes to Alabaster later this year.
Brother Paul’s BBQ will open with a small menu inside the creACTive Wellness Center and Café in Alabaster in August and plans to open a food truck outside the store on U.S. 31 in October.
“One of the things God is encouraging me to do is use my experience and network in food service to start a food truck ministry because I have a message that God wants me to share with people,” Curcio said. “I’ll bring people here and nourish their mind, body and soul, but they can also come and see the other work we do here at Creative.”
Curcio said one of the goals of his ministry is to provide free meals to 1,250 families a year, and he also plans to provide 1,250 free mind, body and spirit consultations each year to help people take care of themselves.
“One of the things God wants me to do as a pastor is to counsel with people, talk with them, find out what their likes and dislikes are in the areas of what they’re doing for their mental health, what they’re doing for their spiritual health, what they’re doing for their physical health,” Curcio said, “and help them realize the importance of being intentional and having a plan every morning to stay centered and grounded, and help them deal with and navigate the craziness that’s going on in the world.”
Curcio’s passion for ministry came after he converted and became sober in 2004. He then spent several years in the food industry and as a business owner.
“God was trying to show me that he wants you to take the gifts he’s given you and spread peace, love, compassion and prayer,” Curcio said. “I want you to be centered, grounded, love God, and I want you to do that for yourself for a year or two so you can practice what you preach.”
More recently, Curcio launched Universal Peace Officers Ministry and has used the platform as a way to spread the message about how to center and stabilize people, primarily through a website and YouTube videos.
“I started off just doing little videos and sending them to friends on Facebook,” Curcio said, “and as that grew over a year or two, I felt like God was leading me to start a website and start a ministry where I could use the gifts that He’s given me to help facilitate things where He has placed me.”
Curcio used his experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous and his quest for unity in his relationship with God as the basis for a ministry that mirrors his own journey.
“My mission is to spread peace, love and compassion through prayer,” he said. “I think the core message is the importance of staying centered and grounded every day, loving God as you understand him, and loving yourself, so that you can better love others.”
