On Sundays, Rev. Terrance Levi stands behind the pulpit at The Fellowship Church in Cleveland, sharing the Gospel and encouraging people to discover the purpose God has for their lives.
On other days, you might find him thinking about brisket, barbecue pizza, staffing, food orders and the seemingly endless details involved in operating Fat Floyd’s Smokehouse, while planning his next Sunday sermon in his head.
Pastor and pitmaster might seem like an unlikely combination, but for Levi, the two roles are not as far apart as they might appear. Both are about serving people. Both require faith, perseverance and a willingness to learn, and both are journeys he has shared with his wife, Lorie, his partner in ministry, business and life.
Levi recently sat down for an episode of Bluebonnet News’ Headlines and Heartlines podcast to talk about the winding road that brought him to Cleveland, the unlikely beginnings of Fat Floyd’s and why, after decades of ministry and a growing restaurant business, preaching remains the work closest to his heart.
Levi grew up in north Houston, graduating from MacArthur High School. He credits his mother, Eloise McFadden, and his grandmother, Cleotha Levi, with instilling many of the values that ultimately shaped his life. His father, Steve Levi, also left an imprint on him, particularly when it came to entrepreneurship.
Levi acknowledged that he wandered away from some of those early values after high school, but eventually found his way back to the foundation his family had given him. His ministry began in the mid-1990s.
Levi became heavily involved in inner-city and street ministry, using creative approaches to reach people who might never walk through the doors of a traditional church. He became involved in Christian rap and other forms of outreach and later expanded into filmmaking. He wrote, directed and produced the faith-based film “Pain,” in which he also acted. During the podcast interview, Levi explained that filmmaking was never about becoming a movie star. It was another way to reach people with a message of faith.
By around 2013, however, Levi found himself at a crossroads. He had spent years doing ministry, outreach, filmmaking and business ventures, but the many different pieces of his life had left him struggling to determine what should come next.
He described it as an identity crisis — a season when he knew he was capable of doing many things but wasn’t certain which direction God wanted him to take. Prayer eventually led him toward pastoral ministry.
Initially, Cleveland wasn’t necessarily where Levi imagined he would land. He considered churches across the country and came close to an opportunity in New York City. Instead, another door opened much closer to home.
Levi and Lorie came to Cleveland in December 2014 to lead the congregation that today is known as The Fellowship Church. It was not an easy assignment. Levi said he was the 11th pastor in roughly 10 years at the church. The congregation had experienced leadership changes and even several name changes through the years.
Still, Levi believed Cleveland was where God had sent his family. More than a decade later, they are still there.
The church has gone through periods of growth and rebuilding, particularly following COVID-19 and changes to its facilities. Today, Levi said one of his primary goals is reaching younger people and those who may not feel as though they fit comfortably into traditional church culture.
His approach reflects the kind of ministry he has practiced since the beginning — reaching people where they are and then helping them discover what their lives can become through faith. Levi said his goal is to empower people to believe God can use them to accomplish something greater than they imagined.
That philosophy also helps explain how barbecue became part of his story. The roots of Fat Floyd’s actually go back decades.
While involved in outreach ministry, Levi and others needed ways to raise money to support their work. One of those ideas was selling barbecue pizzas after Friday night gatherings. The concept was simple: pizza dough, barbecue sauce, cheese and smoked meat.
People loved them. Some began showing up just to buy the pizzas.
Fat Floyd’s Smokehouse first opened in 2018 in space connected to the church. Operating a restaurant brought an entirely different education. Levi readily admits that he made mistakes while learning the barbecue business. Meat was ruined. Processes had to be changed. Systems had to be developed.
But giving up isn’t something that comes easily to him. Instead he kept learning from each mistake.
Fat Floyd’s developed a following for its brisket and other smoked meats, but its barbecue pizzas became one of its signature offerings. The unusual combination also helped draw media attention. The Houston Chronicle profiled Levi and Fat Floyd’s in 2019, highlighting the pastor’s dual roles and the restaurant’s barbecue pizza. Then came exposure on “The Texas Bucket List.”
Levi said the response was remarkable. After the program aired, customers began traveling to Cleveland, Texas, from communities far outside the area to try the food they had seen on television.
Some came from Galveston and Clear Lake. Others traveled from as far away as Lake Charles. Years later, Levi said customers still mention discovering Fat Floyd’s through the food program.
The restaurant’s first chapter, however, eventually came to an end. Levi closed Fat Floyd’s in 2021, not because he believed the concept had failed, but because he felt pulled toward spending more time in ministry. The closure wasn’t permanent.
After Levi’s son Isaiah returned from the Air Force, he encouraged his father to give Fat Floyd’s another shot. Isaiah located the former Church’s Chicken building at 206 W. Houston St. in Cleveland, and the family began another chapter.
This time, Levi wanted the restaurant to be a business separate from the church. The second version of Fat Floyd’s quickly presented a new challenge: growth.
Levi said the reopened restaurant began doing roughly five times the volume of the original operation. That meant more employees, more organization and a greater need for systems that could be repeated without Levi personally handling every task. That transition required him to learn one of the hardest lessons for many entrepreneurs — delegation.
It is a lesson Levi and Lorie are still working through together as they consider what might come next for Fat Floyd’s. The couple has discussed additional locations, including possibilities in the New Caney and Magnolia areas. But expansion would require Levi to delegate more responsibility, particularly as he feels himself being drawn once again toward devoting more time to ministry.
For all the attention Fat Floyd’s has received and all the ventures Levi has pursued, he is clear about which calling matters most. If everything else had to go — the restaurant, the movies and the other projects — he would choose preaching.
At 55, Levi said he thinks more about how he wants to spend the years ahead. His ministry through online video is reaching a growing audience, and he wants to devote more energy to that work while helping rebuild and grow The Fellowship. He also hopes Fat Floyd’s can continue contributing to Cleveland.
To Levi, a successful locally owned restaurant can become part of the identity of a small town — the kind of place visitors hear about and make a point to find. He is quick to praise Cleveland’s other restaurants and doesn’t claim Fat Floyd’s is the only place putting Cleveland on the food map. He simply is doing his part.
He and Lorie have been married for more than 30 years, and she has stood alongside him through ministry, business ventures and the inevitable difficult seasons that accompany both. Levi doesn’t portray his life as perfect. Life, ministry and a successful marriage all require work. Faith in God requires commitment and businesses require persistence. The important thing is to keep going.
Through everything, he wants his life to point back to God, and when his life is eventually summed up, Levin said he would be satisfied with something remarkably simple.
“I would want people to say that I tried,” he said.
To hear the full episode of the Headline and Heartlines podcast, click here: