OK, guys: How’d you like to eat breakfast, enjoy friends, help your British brothers, strengthen the global Baptist movement and break a world record—all at the same time?
Mark your calendar for Saturday, Oct. 11, and set your mouth for bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and sausage or just about whatever will draw a crowd of men to your church. Donuts might work, but don’t count on it.
British Baptist connection
The idea comes from a long-distance friend of mine, Phil Creighton , who used to be an editor for The Baptist Times , a terrific newspaper and website affiliated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain . We worked alongside of each other when the Baptist World Alliance met in Birmingham, England, a few summers ago. Now Phil is an editor with a secular newspaper, the Reading Evening Post .
Phil sent me an e-mail and made me an offer I just couldn’t refuse.
"Cheeky favour"
“Marv, I'm actually emailing you a cheeky favour,” Phil wrote. (Don’t you just love how the Brits express themselves? “Cheeky favour.” Not exactly the way somebody from, say, Texas, would pose a proposition.)
“I'm involved with the Baptist Men’s Movement in the UK, next year becoming its youngest-ever president,” Phil added. “As part of an attempt to help churches with their men’s ministries and to put BMM back on the map, we’re launching a record-breaking attempt called the Bigger Breakfast .
“The idea is simple: On Saturday, October 11, churches host a men’s breakfast—in their homes, churches, cafes … wherever. It doesn’t matter. If we can get more than 18,943 men taking part, we’ll beat a world record set by Texan Cowboys back in 2001. So, Texan Baptists can help make a new record, thus keeping it in Texas!”
There you have it, an invitation to breakfast from jolly old England.
“We'd love it if Texan Baptist churches would be willing to sign up too!” Phil said. “Churches are free to charge what they want to for hosting their breakfast, we just need to churches to register so that we can tally numbers.”
Sign up, or it doesn't count
Of course, the BMM fellows need us register so they can verify their totals and set the record. To do that, you need to go to the Bigger Breakfast website.
Looks like this is a Baptist male-only deal that has nothing to do with theology. (Refreshing, in a back-handed way, huh?) They didn’t set the world-record rules. They’re just trying to break them.
Let’s help.
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