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Meet the Chaplain of Babe's Chicken Dinner House Restaurants

Babe’s Chicken Dinner House is known for its signature dish. But the restaurant is serving more than golden fried pieces of chicken with all the fixings.

Babe’s wants to make sure it’s serving the souls of its employees, as well.

Recently NBC 5 spoke with Gene McGuire.

McGuire is Babe’s chaplain, one of two the company has on staff.

"To share the Gospel, to share the love of Christ and be paid for that as an employee of this company and part of the company's vision--it's tremendous,” Maguire said.

Customers are sometimes surprised by his presence.

“They're always like, 'Oh, Wow, you know, they have a pastor on staff,'" said McGuire.

McGuire ministers to customers when they call him to a table and employees when the day gets long.

He says there is a clear mission.

“We just want them to know that God loves them and that they're right where God wants them to be,” he said.

Employees say McGuire is a good listener, who never judges.

That may be the key to understanding his story.

McGuire spent nearly 35 years of his life behind bars for his involvement in a murder his cousin committed in Pennsylvania.

McGuire says he wished he would have stood up to his cousin and said, 'no', but he was 17-years-old at the time and impressionable.

He pleaded guilty for his role in the crime and ended up with a life sentence. His court-appointed attorney promised he would be eligible for parole. But McGuire says the older prisoners made it clear to him.

“And they said, 'well young buck, you're a lifer like us. You're on the list. You're a life sentence. There's no parole for life sentences,'" said McGuire.

Nine years would pass behind bars. McGuire says he found comfort in jail house drugs and had little hope, until he walked into a revival behind bars.

“So, I walk into this prison chapel with about 250 or 300 men,” he said.

He would leave the service, only to be drawn back.

“The message was so compelling to me that I got up, I got up out of the pew and I went to the front, and chains broke off me. I mean, literally I just felt different. I felt free,” he said.

McGuire rededicated his life to “serving the Lord.” He would spend decades behind bars comfortable in his new found mission and his belief that “God didn't owe me anything.”

A Supreme Court ruling eventually led a judge to reconsider McGuire’s case. He was given a new sentence of time served and freed. McGuire found his way to Texas at the invitation of a pastor who mentored him all those years he was in prison.

“It is Christ in me that kept me sane, that kept me in my right mind, that kept me on the right path," said McGuire.

His path crossed with that of Paul Vinyard, the owner of Babe’s. Vinyard asked McGuire to join his company.

He says he has found comfort sharing his story and the message of the Bible.

“You know the message that God can touch life and change and allow you to be successful,” Maguire said.

McGuire has written a book about his experience called “Unshackled: From Ruins to Redemption."

The Vinyard family helped him publish his autobiography.

McGuire says the family has encouraged him to share his story of faith and redemption. But not everyone who enters the restaurants knows about his role.

McGuire says he’s happy to share his tale and his faith with anyone who asks, but doesn’t impose on customers enjoying their meal.

You can read more about Gene McGuire by clicking here.

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