Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, Mitch Cargile had begun to notice a trend. The men in his church group at Grace Baptist Church in East Columbus were beginning to fall out of touch.

With the services being cut back and the general rush of day-to-day lives being key factors in the decline of fellowship.

This prompted him to take action, starting a men’s breakfast at the church.

“We had just lost the fellowship that we would normally have because when there were so many of us, we would always make the time because somebody would be doing something to get it ready,” he said. “It was just an opportunity. We were meeting at The Country Kitchen down here and it was just hard, to be honest with you. It was hard to remember to wake up on time to get up there. So, I knew that if I volunteered to do it, I would be here. I could always make time, it was just one of those things, trying to prioritize being able to spend time with the guys more than just on Sunday.”

The event has since become a staple of the church, and there are usually about 10 men who show up. “The usual suspects,” as Cargile calls them.

The group meets on the first Saturday of each month for breakfast and Cargile can be found in the kitchen, shortly after daybreak, preparing the meal.

“I’ve got a heart to serve, and I just enjoy doing it for them,” he said. “I know they get a good meal and we get to sit around and laugh, catch up and get that time that we just normally don’t have on Sundays because it’s so busy. Why not make the time to get up early on a Saturday to go cook an enjoyable meal and spend some time with some good guys?”

Cargile has always had a love of cooking, and he started in the kitchen during his childhood.

“(I’ve been cooking) all of my life to be honest with you,” Cargile said. “I did most of the cooking for my mom and my stepdad. I was my stepdad’s 24-hour Huddle House. He had the strangest, weirdest hours. He slept most of the day and stayed up most of the night and unfortunately, I was the sidekick that he normally chose to stay up with him. It wasn’t anything for him to be up at 1 or 2 a.m., and I go in there and cook a full breakfast. That’s just what I did. I remember 90 percent of the meals when I was a kid, I cooked myself.”

Through the years, he has perfected his skills and has been dubbed the “Meat Minister” by members of the church.

“I am the official Grace Baptist Chili Cook Off Champion,” he said. “I hold that title. They went up against the boss and the boss won.”

Cargile’s prowess in the kitchen has led more than one person to suggest he start a restaurant. His own children have even encouraged him to do so. However, that is not something he is interested in.

“I find that when you start trying to turn something that you love and enjoy doing into a way of making money, it usually just takes all of the enjoyment out of it,” Cargile said. “It becomes more of a hassle.”

He takes the same approach to knives. He makes knives and even appeared on the television show, “Forged in Fire.”

When asked what his favorite thing to cook is, Cargile took no time in answering.

“Ribeye steak,” he said. “Specifically a tomahawk ribeye. I do a reverse sear where I slow-smoke it until it gets even all the way through. Then I do a quick sear on my Primo charcoal grill. That’s high cotton right there.”

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