4 OctOber 12 - 18, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents O ne hot, sunny Sunday in fall, as he has done so many times, Pastor Leon Birdd stood outdoors, wearing a microphone in the center of a circle of people. Many of the people around him were homeless. Birdd has a husky build and a short, white beard that wraps around his face. Surrounding him on that day were members of S.O.U.L. Church, a minis- try and nonprofit based in Dallas. Some of them had simply lost their way in life. Birdd, wearing a shirt that says “Jesus Squeezes” (that’s what he calls hugs), told the group that he, too, had once been lost. Birdd is one of the main faces behind S.O.U.L. Church, alongside his wife, Jennifer. S.O.U.L stands for Servants Of oUr Lord. The church has no roof or walls. Every Sunday morning, S.O.U.L. Church meets outdoors on a lot near Fair Park to feed the homeless. The church has from 30 to 40 volunteers who help feed some 250 people every Sunday. Many of those in at- tendance are wearing T-shirts and jeans or shorts. Some of them can be seen sleeping through the Sunday service, but plenty of others are willing, active participants. Birdd wasn’t raised in the church. He grew up poor, so naturally, he thought whatever God presided over this world was a cruel one. As he got older, he didn’t think all that much about God. Instead, he developed an affinity for partying and drugs. So, that’s what he was doing with a colleague before a day of construction work years ago, he told the crowd stand- ing around him. He was freebasing cocaine with someone he called Skid, as in Skid Row. “That day while I was getting stoned, he [Skid] said ‘Hey, think of your worst sin,’” Birdd recalled. “I said, ‘Skid, what’s up with that? Man, you’re gonna bring me down.’” Skid said he didn’t have to tell him what his worst sin was but that Jesus would forgive him for it. “Well, good for Jesus. I can’t forgive myself,” Birdd replied. “Oh, so you’re saying you’re more powerful than Jesus,” Skid said. “I ain’t saying that,” Birdd replied. Skid insisted that’s ex- actly what he was saying. “Right there and then, I felt a sense of all my guilt and all my shame just lifted from me. It was absolutely wonderful,” Birdd said. “From that day, I never partied again.” Today, he says it was Jesus who came down and pulled all the guilt and shame from his body. T he church is more than just a place for the homeless to get a bite to eat. It’s also where they can find a sense of belonging and community. They don’t have to be all about God to reap the benefits of the church — they need only show up. It can become a constant in their lives that they might otherwise not have. The church sets up around 6 or 7 a.m. every Sunday. Vol- unteers bring food along with a stage and speakers for mu- sic. Sometimes they bring clothes and other items homeless attendees may need. Many people said they first found out about the church by following the sound of music that blares through those speakers every Sunday morning. As the sun beat down on everyone that hot fall Sunday, the circle of people began to disperse. Some went to the food line to fill their stomachs with BBQ chicken sandwiches and macaroni and cheese, while others hung back to pray. One longtime member of the church named Debra McK- ernan was helping prep the food for the day. McKernan, 66, said she was living at The Bridge the first time she heard the music at S.O.U.L. Church. She wasn’t very happy about it. “I was furious,” she said. It was early one Sunday morning around 5 a.m., and the church was meeting across the street from her. McKernan had just gotten out of jail on drug charges. She packed up all her belongings and went to where the music was coming from. She found the church. “I said, ‘You need to turn your stupid music down,’” she recalled. They didn’t. “But there was something that kept drawing me back, which was really odd,” she said. It was odd because she didn’t like God at the time. She was angry at him for all the things that had happened in her life. She had gotten divorced after learning that her | UNFAIR PARK | Nathan Hunsinger >> p6 Stirring Soul In a Fair Park parking lot, a different kind of church gives peace and belonging to the homeless. BY JACOB VAUGHN Pastor Leon Birdd preaches to his church which meets outdoors on Sunday mornings.
