160 flock to dinner

MORRISON – Thirteen deep-fried turkeys were gone in less than 1 hour, as more than 160 area residents flocked to Crossroads Community Church’s Crave youth building for a free Thanksgiving dinner.

The meal wasn’t geared only to the hungry – everyone was welcome – but “a lot of these people – you could tell this was Thanksgiving dinner,” said Josh Mauney, pastor of the new Morrison congregation.

“When you’re having a tough financial situation, that becomes such a precedent in your life that you never have the chance to relax and connect with people,” Mauney said.

The Crave building is part of the fast-growing Crossroads Church, which last week, it’s 12th Sunday in Morrison, drew about 400 worshipers.

Heather and Doyal McCoy, a couple from Prophetstown, were among the curious who came to the Crave building downtown for a free meal.

The former Army couple haven’t come on particularly hard times, and they aren’t particularly religious, but they’re exactly the type of people Crossroads hopes to attract: religiously curious but unimpressed by the pomp and circumstance of traditional services.

Crossroads’ informal style, both during services and the through the week, has gotten the Sauk Valley’s attention.

Churches in cities with 500,000 or more aren’t reaching as many people as quickly “as this little church in this 5,000-person town,” Mauney said.

About 140 area junior and senior high school students came to Crave’s first meeting two weeks ago, and 50 area kids volunteered Wednesday night to serve the meal.

The building’s name comes from scripture, in which the prophet Matthew instructs Christians to hunger, thirst and crave righteousness.

“We try to preach that it takes service to live out Biblical Christianity,” Mauney said. “Sitting in church for one hour on Sunday doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in my garage makes you my Jeep.”