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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – After spending years working with Golden Rule Bar-B-Q, Paul Curcio hopes to help educate people on how to get their mind, body and soul grounded while also providing plates of barbecue when Brother Paul’s BBQ comes to Alabaster later this year.

Brother Paul’s BBQ will open with a small menu inside of the creACTive Wellness Center and Café in Alabaster in August with plans for a food truck to open outside the business on U.S. 31 in October.

“(One) thing God’s encouraged me to do is take my experience in food service, use my networks and form a food truck ministry because I have a message I feel that God wants me to share to people.” Curcio said. “I’ll bring people (here) to feed their mind, body and spirit but then also they can come in and see some of the other things they’re doing here at creACTive.”

Curcio said one of the goals of his ministry is to feed 1,250 families a year for free. Additionally, he also plans to offer 1,250 free mind, body and spirit consultations each year to help people take care of themselves.

“That’s one of the things that God wants me do with the ministry is have consultations with people, talk with them, find their likes and dislikes in the areas of what they do for their mental health, what they do for the spiritual health, what they do with their physical health,” Curcio said. “And help them be intentional and realize the importance of devising their own plan to get centered and get grounded every morning to help them deal and navigate with the craziness that’s going on in the world.”

Curcio’s passion for his ministry came about after he was converted and became sober in 2004. Curcio then went on to spend several years in the food industry and as a business owner.

“God tried to just start showing me that I want you take the gifts I’ve given you and I want you to go spread peace, love, compassion and prayer,” Curcio said. “I want you to get centered and grounded and love God and I need you to do it for yourself for a year or two so that you can practice what you preach.”

Most recently, Curcio started the Universal Peace Officers ministry and has used the platform as a way to spread messages on how residents can get centered and grounded which he accomplishes primarily through a website and videos on YouTube.

“I kind of started just doing little videos, sending them out to friends on Facebook,” Curcio said. “And, as that evolved over a year or two, I feel God led me to form a website, form a ministry to try to take the gifts that he’s given me in the place that he’s placed me and use them to help promote things.”

Curcio took his experiences in Alcoholics Anonymous and the pursuit of unifying one’s relationship to God to serve as the foundation for his ministry which mirrors his own journey.

“My mission statement is that I want to spread peace, love and compassion through prayer,” he said. “The core message I think is the importance of getting centered and getting grounded every day and loving God as you understand him, loving yourself so then you’re in a better position to love other people.”